


A is A: The New Normal

by Flyboy254



Series: A Is A [29]
Category: Fairy Tail, Overwatch (Video Game), Pumpkin Scissors, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, Conspiracy, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-05-12 19:57:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19236037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flyboy254/pseuds/Flyboy254
Summary: Without their strongest soldier, Section III must make an investigation with three wizards that are being shown that life is not always so bright as they think. As they face a shattering facet of A is A, Randel Oland is forced to confront a part of himself in a way that he never imagined: People caring about him.





	1. Chapter 1

**The New Normal**

**Chapter 1**

* * *

 

Gray kept tugging at the collar of the thick green blouse that he, Lucy, and Erza had been given. Apparently to fit in with Section III’s world, they needed to give up their usual wear and swap it out for the uniforms of their military. Of course, to Gray that meant wearing unbearably warm clothes that threatened to give him heat stroke. The fact that his hair had been combed down just completed the bizarre ensemble. “Please tell me I don’t have to wear this the whole time we’re here.”

 

Capt. Hunks didn’t bother looking up from his reports as he answered. The man looked like a grandfather, a round belly with a bald head, and what little hair there was gone gray with a neutral look on his face. Lucy had to remind herself that he was in charge of Section III. “Not unless you want to ruin our chance at making sure we get the information we need out of this investigation.”

 

Erza nodded, Alice staring enviously of the fact that Erza had somehow managed to perfectly wear the uniform of the Empire in less than twenty minutes. “Of course sir, we’ll make sure we follow your team’s guidance while we’re in your nation.”

 

“I’d hope so,” Hunks said, setting his paperwork down on his desk and looking up at the three wizards. “There’s a small village a few days drive away from the capital. The mining town of Erdegeboren has been giving us some strange production reports. For some reason their mine and smelter are both working at a continual pace. The problem is that the production facilities they ship their metal to haven’t reported a corresponding uptick in production as well.”

 

Lucy shrugged. “So maybe someone’s just not keeping their records well enough?”

 

“Well we did think of that,” Hunks said, picking up his pipe. “Unfortunately, the numbers don’t add up to make it simple bad bookkeeping. The steel from their smelter is used in many national projects, including building our tanks. We need to figure out what exactly is happening there, and with Cpl. Oland in the SGC we needed whatever support that could be found.”

 

Erza smiled. “Not to worry sir, we’ll do whatever we can to help solve this problem.”

 

Hunks nodded. “Very good. That’s all for now, dismissed.”

 

Leaving the office, Alice nodded as she looked to MV-1. “Well, we have our mission and our location. Are you all ready to go?”

 

“Hardly,” Gray groaned. “Can I please just take this off? I’m gonna sweat myself to death in this.”

 

“Official Army regulations on proper uniform appearance state clearly that the proper garrison uniform is to be worn in a complete set at all times when not performing arduous physical labor.” The way Alice rattled off, Lucy could only imagine she’d memorized the regulation one letter at a time. “If you didn’t wear it properly, you’d attract immediate suspicion.”

 

Erza nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that we make sure to keep our presence as unobtrusive as possible.” She planted a very firm hand on Gray’s neck. “Won’t we?”

 

Gray shuddered as he shot ramrod straight. “Yes Erza, nothing obtrusive here!”

 

Alice groaned. “Yeah, this will only end well. So, where’s Martis and Oreldo?”

 

“Getting our vehicle at the motor pool,” Alice said. “This way, we’re leaving as soon as we can.”

 

Following Alice through the corridors, Lucy looked around at everything she passed. The building itself was plain, drab, but at least it had windows for the sun to come through. There were other green-uniformed soldiers walking through, but the uniforms were different from in the SGC. There were no camouflage patterns or immediate clues on which rank was which. The blouses were high-necked and stiff, the material heavy and thick. Thankfully the weather was pretty temperate, otherwise she’d agree with Gray.

 

Every so often there was a picture of a major military victory in the past of the Empire; heroic knights on charging steeds scything through enemy forces, or gallant last stands in the face of overwhelming enemy numbers. Interspersed were portraits of Imperial knights and emperors, resplendent in armor so ornate that Erza walked into two walls staring at them.

 

As they walked, they passed a man with a more official uniform that looked like a suit with a tie going in the other direction. He bore a massive scar across his face, and Lucy noticed him glaring at Alice with venomous intent. Safely out of earshot, Lucy leaned toward Alice. “Jeez, what’s that guy’s problem?”

 

“That’s the field commander of State Section I, Claymore I.” Alice spoke impassively as she went toward the doors exiting the HQ. “We had a small altercation some time ago.”

 

Lucy blinked. “ _What, did you two have a messy breakup?_ ”

 

Moving outside, Lucy smiled at the city. It wasn’t as colorful or bright as Magnolia, but it was still more like her home than Colorado Springs. The buildings were brick and stone, the cobblestone streets echoing with calls and cars and carts going through the day. The people didn’t dress like Lucy was used to seeing, wearing simple clothes that didn’t really seem to show off any personality, but Lucy didn’t begrudge them for having a different culture. That was part of the excitement of traveling through the multiverse.

 

Erza spoke up as they walked for the motor pool. “So what are they helping Cpl. Oland with?”

 

“They think there’s something wrong with his mind,” Alice said. “Given what Sunset Shimmer said, they think there might be some kind of wound in his brain.”

 

“Well if anyone can find it the SGC can,” Erza said, smiling at Alice. “It isn’t quite magic, but it’s probably the next-best thing. Especially with Dr. Ziegler helping them.”

 

Alice nodded. “Of course. Gen. Hammond wouldn’t have ordered it unless he knew he could help Cpl. Oland.” Despite her firm words, Lucy noticed a slight uncertainty in the lieutenant’s eyes.

 

The smells of the motor pool reminded Lucy of what she’d smelled back when they were helping MV-4 with their patrols back in the Middle East; oil, metal, and in the mix the smell of sweat all churning together. Only this was a universe that hadn’t made full use of electricity yet; the hoists and cranes were all worked by cranks and chains and there was no real ventilation to get the fumes out.

 

A cluster of mechanics were at work on a small car, less advanced than what Lucy was used to seeing in most of the other universes but definitely more put together than a typical magic-mobile. Oreldo and Martis were waiting off to the side, talking with a tall woman in mechanic’s coveralls with short hair that made Lucy immediately think of Erza with a bob cut.

 

“Hey, Malvin!” The woman looked past the two men and hurried forward. “Good to see you back. Where’s the big guy?”

 

“Cpl. Oland has a medical matter to take care of,” Alice said.

 

“So that’s why you’ve got three extra here,” Webner said, walking up to the wizards. “Lt. Webner.”

 

“Pvt. Scarlet,” Erza said, stepping forward at attention. “With Pvt. Fullbuster and Pvt. Heartfilia.”

 

“Hey lieutenant, we’ve got-” The mechanic stopped. His young face froze on seeing Lucy, then broke into a wide smile. The other mechanics looked up, then followed his gaze and made the same dumb expression.

 

Webner blinked, turned to see them, and glared. “You idiots want to get back to work! Or do you all want to get a report sent up about your slacking off!” The men shuddered and went right back to work. “Sorry about those morons. They’re good mechanics but a bunch of dogs when they don’t have something to keep them distracted.”

 

Lucy was blushing furiously. “Aren’t these guys supposed to be soldiers?”

 

Webner groaned. “You wouldn’t be able to tell sometimes right? Anyway, your rides are almost ready, they’re finishing up on the last checks now.”

 

Alice nodded. “Thank you Lt. Webner. We’re thankful you were able to ensure both autos would be ready in time.”

 

Webner grinned. “What kind of mechanics would we be if we couldn’t make sure one of our own equipment is ready to go out at a second’s notice? I’d hang up my wrench if that ever happened.”

 

As Alice and Webner talked, Oreldo leaned toward Martis. “No big guy this time, not really liking our odds right now.”

 

Martis nodded. “They’re just kids aren’t they? Even if they have these kinds of magic powers, they won’t be able to use them unless it’s life or death.”

 

Oreldo rolled his eyes. “Because we never get into those.”

 

Martis shook his head. “No, it’s the fact that we still don’t know anything about the people we’re up against. If they reveal their abilities and they find out, they might decide we’re too dangerous to keep around. We’ve seen what they can do even if we think we’re watching them.”

 

Oreldo scowled. “Look, if it comes down to it we need to let them do their job. Besides, who’s gonna believe it if people say they see magic?”

 

Martis nodded, walking over to the two autos. “I guess you’re right.”

 

Alice stopped and sighed. “Wait, where’s Mercury?” Oreldo and Martis blinked. “I thought so. We’ll stop back at headquarters before we set off.”

 

Lucy looked confused. “Who’s Mercury?”

 

“Our messenger dog,” Oreldo said, hopping into the first auto. “We have to make sure we have some kind of way to send a message back to Capt. Hunks, otherwise no one will know if something happens to us.”

 

Gray shrugged. “Couldn’t we just use one of those phones?”

 

Martis shook her head and went close to Gray. “This isn’t like the SGC or other universes. Some parts of the Empire still haven’t gotten electricity let alone telephone lines. Mercury is our only surefire way to communicate with Capt. Hunks.”

 

Before Gray could respond, a booming bark caught him off guard and a massive weight forced him forward onto the concrete of the motor pool. With his face planted firmly in the floor he mumbled out, “I found the dog.”

 

“Mercury!” Lucy looked up in surprise at the young voice, and saw a young girl in a uniform and tie running over, black hair in two small pigtails. “I’m sorry, I was taking him out to do his business and he got away from me.”

 

“Aw, it’s okay little girl,” Lucy said, crouching down and smiling as she patted the girl’s head. “Are you helping out Section III for the day?”

 

The girl’s expression shifted to angry. “Excuse me? I am a sergeant major, private!”

 

Lucy blinked. “You’re some kind of sergeant!?”

 

The girl slammed her hands on Lucy’s ears. “I don’t hear any proper respect for rank private!”

 

Oreldo started his auto and clapped his hands. “Okay, how about we get moving!” Glaring at Lucy as she jumped into his auto, Oreldo waited for Martis to lead the way out of the motor pool. Lucy was just busy wincing and rubbing at her ears.

 

As Section III rolled out, Webner and her mechanics looked to Sgt. Maj. Stecchin. “So who were those three?”

 

Stecchin froze. “New transfers! Sorry ma’am, I need to get some papers to Capt. Hunks!” Just as soon as she’d arrived Stecchin was gone again, leaving Webner staring at the retreating autos and Section III.

 

“Nice job back there,” Oreldo barked as he drove Lucy and Gray through the city. “Were you trying to get people to ask questions? You’re lucky that was in front of Lt. Webner and her mechanics, otherwise we’d be in real trouble.”

 

“Sorry,” Lucy shouted back. “But that kid’s some kind of high-ranking soldier? She can’t be older than Wendy!”

 

“That blue-haired kid in your guild?” Oreldo scoffed. “Maybe that’s a clue that you shouldn’t act like you’re home anymore. If that kid’s young enough to be in Fairy Tail, then why can’t Stecchin be a sergeant major?”

 

Lucy and Gray shared a look. Neither one could argue as they drove through the capital.

* * *

 

Mercy watched as Dr. Frasier went over the physical with Randel. “Temperature is 98.7 degrees, BP is 121 over 74 and pulse is steady.” Scribbling down on her clipboard, Dr. Frasier smiled up at Randel. Even seated on the exam table he still towered over everyone in the room. “Alright, how’re you feeling corporal?”

 

Randel smiled nervously. “Fine. Is all this really necessary ma’am? I’m sorry if I made Sunset uncomfortable, but I had no idea it was happening.”

 

“Well we need to make sure everyone is in perfect physical health, that includes mental.” Taking off the pressure cuff, Dr. Frasier nodded to Dr. Ziegler.

 

“Corporal, how long have you been using the lantern?”

 

Randel thought carefully. “About five years ma’am.”

 

Mercy nodded and took down her own notes. “And what do you experience when you open the shutter?”

 

Randel thought for a moment. “I don’t really feel anything ma’am. It doesn’t do anything to make me feel pain or like I’m getting hurt.”

 

“Yes, but if I had to guess your world might not be at the forefront of psychological health,” Mercy said. There was no condescension in her voice, just pure clinical thought. “They might have given you this lantern without understanding the long-term effects it would have on anyone who used it.” A darker part of Mercy’s mind whispered, “ _Probably because they didn’t expect anyone using it to last as long as you have._ ”

 

Dr. Frasier put a stethoscope to Randel’s chest. “Alright, deep breaths in and out.” Randel did as told, Dr. Frasier listening to the sound of his lungs filling and expelling. Neither woman was particularly disturbed by the scars. In both of their chosen lines of work they’d seen more than enough scar tissue and near-mortal wounds than most professionals could even imagine. It was their territory; only the truly bizarre or dangerous could phase them now. Still, as Mercy looked over the dozens of scars large and small across Randel, part of her tried to wonder what he was ordered to do in his homeland.

 

“Alright corporal, just lay down as best you can for me.” Feet hanging well over the exam bed, Randel stared up at the ceiling as Dr. Frasier felt along Randel’s chest and stomach. “Any pains?” Randel shook his head. “Alright, sit up again. Now we’re gonna do some basic tests to see how your nerves are working. Stretch your arms out, now touch your nose with the tip of your fingers one at a time.”

 

Mercy watched the test continue still scribbling. Nothing appeared wrong with Randel’s cognitive abilities, and his body responded perfectly. “ _Maybe it’s hypnosis of some kind? Maybe that’s the development that this universe has that we haven’t, perfected post-hypnotic suggestion?_ ” Mercy shuddered. “ _A terrifying prospect._ ”

 

“Okay, one last check before we move on corporal. Stand up please?” As Randel stood, Dr. Frasier knelt down a little. “Okay, turn your head and cough when I say so.”

 

Mercy kept scribbling along; a dirty or childish mind would think this some kind of setup, but the truth was that a hernia was an easy injury to miss or ignore for a soldier. She’d seen more than enough in her days with the old Overwatch teams, especially when she had to tell Reinhardt over and over to take it easy. What made her look up was the long pause without a cough. Looking up, she saw Dr. Frasier frozen with a single look on her face that said one thing.

 

Woof.

 

One cough later, and Dr. Frasier and Mercy were comparing notes. “Physically he’s in perfect shape, nothing about him would normally make me concerned if it weren’t for the scar tissue and what Sunset Shimmer claimed.”

 

“I’m still unsure about her claim overall,” Mercy said. “I’ll grant that Cpl. Oland has certainly seen his share of combat, but the overall sense I get of his personality is that we’re looking at a man who is extremely sensitive emotionally and has done his best to try and move on with life. If anything I would recommend we remove him from active duty until a more thorough psychological interview can be conducted, at minimum.”

 

“Well Sam’s already working on taking apart the lantern,” Dr. Frasier said. “Once she’s finished-” The door opened to Dr. Frasier’s office, and Sam walked in looking somewhere between concerned and disturbed. “Speak of the Devil.”

 

“It’s not just a lantern,” Carter said, placing the opened remains of the lantern onto Dr. Frasier’s desk. “It’s a radio transmitter.” The interior of the lantern had a small bulb behind a blue filter, but the rest of it was what caught their attention. A small coil of copper wire, with a small vacuum tube at the end along with several wires running through the setup.

 

Mercy didn’t know electronics as well as she should, but the look on Carter’s face told her that she wasn’t only being truthful, she was concerned. “A radio transmitter to what?”

 

“I don’t know, and it only broadcasts one frequency.” Carter took the nearest seat and stared at the device. “When’s Oland talking with Mackenzie?”

 

“He’s on his way there right now,” Frasier said, concerned as she took her own seat. “You disabled it right?”

 

“I made sure to, and I can fix it.” Carter sighed, leaning back in her chair. “I’m just worried about doing that at all.”

 

The women all stared apprehensively at the lantern, trying to figure out what their next move would be.

* * *

 

Randel sat across from Col. Mackenzie, idly wondering what would happen now. “Well, corporal, let’s start with the simple stuff. How’re you feeling today?”

 

Randel shrugged. “I guess I’m fine sir. I still don’t know why I’m exactly here though.”

 

Mackenzie smiled genially. “I’m not surprised son, from what I understand your nation is still advancing in terms of psychiatry and psychology. Basically we’re worried about you, about your mental state in particular.”

 

“My mental state?” Mackenzie stared on, Randel not seeing any malice in his expression. He was actually surprised when he realized the officer was genuinely concerned. “Well I guess I’m fine sir.”

 

“What about when the lantern turns on son,” Mackenzie said, not dropping his concern. “What do you think you can tell me about it?”

 

Randel paused. Head down at the floor, he shuddered at the thought of telling anyone. “I’m not sure I can really explain it sir.”

 

Mackenzie nodded. “Alright, we don’t need to talk about it right now. Why not take the lead for a little while? Tell me about something you care about?”

 

“I care about?” Randel perked up. “I’m not sure I have anything to really talk about though.”

 

“Everyone has something,” Mackenzie said, smiling gently. “Family? Friends? Hobbies?” Nothing. “Pets?”

 

Randel smiled. “Oh, there’s the cats I feed.”

 

“ _Bingo._ ” Mackenzie adjusted his leg so that his notepad was positioned at his right hand. “More than one then?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

 

By the time they’d driven far enough away that the capital wasn’t even visible, Erza had gone from a city to several small villages to countryside to farmland to wild grassland back to villages again. The Empire was quieter compared to Fiore, not as many signs of life rushing by without magic and wizards. Still there was plenty of life to see; farmers plowing fields, schoolchildren rushing by with books, wives chatting at the markets. “Lieutenant, what is Erdegeboren?”

 

“An iron mining town,” Alice said. “They aren’t the biggest, but their people are loyal to the Empire and are proud of what they do. The town itself has been around for hundreds of years, it’s one of the first to accept the rule of the Thirteen Families and Emperor.”

 

Martis smiled. “Sounds like you know a lot about this town lieutenant.”

 

Alice nodded. “My family has a history with the area. It isn’t important for this though, right now our priority is to find out why there’s a discrepancy and ensure that production remains constant.”

 

“Tanks,” Erza said, thinking as she patted Mercury in the rear seat. “I imagine they aren’t as advanced as the ones we’ve encountered working alongside MV-4. What do they work like here?”

 

Martis groaned. “I’m pretty sure a tank is a tank no matter where you are, A is A right? They’re big metal monsters that only the corporal can take out.”

 

“He’d be in for a rude awakening in the Mideast then,” Erza said. “The tanks we’ve seen are either too fast to catch or too armored to break through with his pistol.”

 

Martis shook his head. “You’d be amazed what the corporal can do. One time he took down an entire armored train on his own.”

 

“Armored train?” Erza puzzled over the statement. “Why would anyone put armor on a train?”

 

The car behind them was a little more animated, Oreldo laughing as he listened to the stories of Fairy Tail’s adventures. “So they both had to pose in those bikini things?”

 

“That was the punishment for losing the race,” Lucy said with a grin. “Right Gray? You looked so cute in that little pink dress.”

 

Oreldo could hear Gray’s teeth grinding behind him. “Well don’t worry, you won’t have to worry about any embarrassing photos here.”

 

“This is embarrassing enough,” Gray said, tugging as his collar. “Can I please take this off now?”

 

Oreldo checked to see that Alice wasn’t looking back. “Yeah, you can open your collar up. Just keep your blouse close by, I don’t want her to turn around and give us grief because I said you could.”

 

Gray shook his head as he finally ripped off the stifling cloth. “Is she always such a stickler for rules? Col. O’Neill never acts like this.”

 

“Col. O’Neill can get away with what he does, he’s saved his world and probably served for decades. The lieutenant? She’s still a kid as far as other officers are concerned. Plus she actually believes in what she’s doing.”

 

Lucy thought about that for a second. “What do you means she actually believes? No one else does?”

 

“Well, I mean we do.” Oreldo pointed to Martis and himself. “Most of the officers above Capt. Hunks don’t though. They’re convinced we’re a useless unit that should just shut down.”

 

“But you all help people,” Lucy shouted. “Even if this conspiracy is trying to do wrong with the Empire that doesn’t mean you aren’t doing good.”

 

Oreldo looked back with a grin. “Oh, thank you for reminding me. You know I’d almost forgotten.” Lucy scowled at the lecher.

 

Gray watched as the scenery flew by. “So these people you’re trying to find-”

 

“Not trying to find,” Oreldo said, slowing as they turned left at a crossroads. “We keep finding them, totally different circumstances.”

 

Gray rolled the words over in his head. “There’s a difference?”

 

“Well not all of our investigations involve these guys,” Oreldo said, shrugging. “A lot of our cases are just locals trying to stay alive.”

 

Lucy shook her head. “It sounded like a lot of your missions involved a lot of fighting.”

 

Oreldo shrugged. “Once or twice.”

 

The conversation died down with that, Lucy going back to watching the scenery fly by as the sun started to dip into the west. The teams followed the signposts to a small village; the roads were still dirt and the center of town was a small fountain with shops circled around it. An inn waited at the edge of the center of the village, the windows spilling out with warm light and a warm public house on the ground floor. “We’ll rest here tonight,” Alice said, Oreldo and Martis slinging their rifles over their shoulders. Lucy was about to ask why they were using such long rifles made with wood until she remembered: Not the SGC. “Just let us do the talking for the important things.”

 

When the door opened, the tavern sounded lively and happy. Men talked of their day and flirted with the barmaids, farmhands trying to enjoy something different for dinner or craftsmen resting as a day cooped up in their workshops. Then everyone started to notice the uniforms in their midst, and the conversation started to die down to whispers and mumbles. Lucy looked to Alice, but their lack of reaction was more troubling than the reaction from the patrons inside.

 

Alice walked up to the bar. “Excuse me?” The fat barman barely looked up from his cleaning the glasses. “We need six beds for the night.”

 

The man huffed. “Got coin soldier?”

 

Alice nodded, reaching into her coat and pulling out a leather bag. “One night sir.”

 

“Twenty.” Alice nodded, placing twenty gold coins with the Empire’s seal on the bar. “Food is extra, and no weapons at the tables.”

 

“Understood. Oreldo, take the weapons up to the room and watch them, we’ll bring your food up-”

 

“No food in the rooms.”

 

Alice nodded. “Martis will swap with you when you’re done eating.”

 

With Oreldo watching the weapons upstairs, Alice led the teams to a table and waited patiently for one of the girls working in the house to get to them. “Well, that was certainly less exhausting than using a magic mobile,” Erza said, smiling as she gazed around the tavern. There were mounted trophies on the walls from local hunters, landscapes and portraits from a local painter or two as a fire warmed kept the place warm. “And this looks like a good humble place to sleep for the night. Most of the time we’re just used to sleeping outside on the ground.”

 

Martis blinked. “You don’t try to find a place to stay?”

 

“A lot of Fiore is like the countryside here,” Erza said. “Only the rail lines are mostly focused on the cities, and the roads are only really maintained between the large towns and villages. Anything like an auto is just too expensive to buy.”

 

“That and we’re usually not allowed to stay in some villages,” Gray said. “Most in owners won’t let us stay if they find out we’re part of Fairy Tail.”

 

Martis shook his head. “Well you can pay them right?” Gray looked away awkwardly. “Don’t you think that’s a factor?”

 

Lucy sighed and shrugged. “Most of the time our fees wind up paying for the damages we’ve caused if we have to take a quest in a town or city.”

 

“And it isn’t in Fairy Tail’s nature,” Erza said. “Our guild is the strongest in Fiore, we can react to anywhere from our guild hall.”

 

Alice and Martis shared a look as Martis kept going. “You’re still only operating out of your single guild hall?”

 

“Of course,” Erza said. “Why would we need to have any other?”

 

Martis lowered his voice. “Nod, Erza, Nod’s the reason. We know they’re active in Fiore right? What happens if you all stay in Magnolia as they take hold in all of Fiore?”

 

Erza and Gray seemed to both have a realization at the same time, but Lucy spoke first. “You think they’re still doing that?”

 

“Given how your nation’s soldiers acted, it’s safe to say that you’re in trouble.” Martis shook his head and grabbed a napkin as he pulled out a pen. Drawing an oval, he wrote “Fiore” above it and turned it around to the wizards. “Where’s Magnolia Town if this is Fiore?” Erza tapped on the spot, and Martis marked off the area on the bottom left of the oval. “Okay, now what happens if Nod takes over a town at the other end of the nation? Or worse, infiltrates the capital? Imagine what they could do if they took over the government of Fiore?”

 

Gray couldn’t hold back a snort. “Was there supposed to be a problem there?”

 

“We know Nod is active in Fiore, the raid on the guild hall proves it.” Alice tapped on the napkin. “Haven’t you done anything to try and find them?” The three wizards shrugged. Alice groaned and put her face in her hands. “You need to find where the Brotherhood is hiding, and it might be too late anyway if they’ve already spread to other regions.”

 

“But it hasn’t been that long since they attacked the guild hall,” Lucy said. “They took casualties too right? They must be hurt right now.”

 

“That’s not how it works at all,” Alice said, aghast as she realized the wizards were being serious with her. “If they did that, they felt they had the strength to make such a strike in the first place.”

 

Lucy blinked. “They thought they were strong enough to strike? But none of us were there at the guild hall, we were all in Hargeon.”

 

Alice nodded. “That was the point.”

 

The wizards all looked at each other realizing what Alice and Martis were putting to them: Nod was moving forward with no one to stop them in Fiore unless Fairy Tail started moving. Erza took a breath and spoke up. “Lieutenant, I’m sure you’re right but…I mean how do we even begin to start containing them?”

 

“You’ll have to figure that out when you get back to your dimension,” Alice said. “Right now we have to focus on our mission here.” Flipping the napkin over, Alice snatched the pen from Martis’ hand and scribbled down several numbers. “What we know is that Erdegeboren has steadily put out roughly eighty tons of iron ore every six months, refined into fifty tons of high-quality steel at the town’s smelting plant. Those tons of steel are what we use to build our tanks, so Erdegeboren is considered a strategic resource for the Empire’s military.”

 

“Alright, I get all that,” Gray said. “But how is It that there’s apparently metal going missing if Capt. Hunks said that the mine and smelter are working all hours?”

 

“If I had to guess, the black market,” Martis said, keeping his voice low. “Whoever owns the mine and smelter are working together, either to sell the steel they make or the raw ore is being sold as well.”

 

Lucy thought for a second. “Is it really that valuable? I thought steel was everywhere.”

 

Martis started to go into thought. “Tank production takes a priority, but reconstruction from the war still requires steel that would be taken from the tank production facilities. Construction firms have been reported paying well over the typical price for a ton of steel.”

 

Erza laughed in disbelief. “Wait, you’re saying that you’d rather build more tanks than try to rebuild the places ruined by this war?”

 

Alice shook her head. “Erdegeboren isn’t the only iron mine in the nation, but the fact that it’s so close to the smelter in the village is what makes it so much less expensive compared to other iron mining operations. It isn’t that there isn’t any more iron in the Empire, it’s the fact that there’s no other cheaper iron.”

 

“Then why not make the cheaper steel available to the construction companies?” Lucy scratched at her head. “If there’s a black market wouldn’t it make it simpler to make the cheaper steel available to them to rebuild?”

 

“Not without opening us up to a threat from the Republic of Frost,” Alice said. “If they realize our armored production is faltering, they can more aggressively push on our borders.”

 

Erza looked down at the table. “So it’s a choice between slowly rebuilding a nation, or not having a nation at all.”

 

“If I could, I would direct more steel to be directed to the rebuilding projects,” Alice said, suddenly looking determined. “If we can find out the reason for the discrepancy, we can go a little farther in figuring out how to find other gaps in the system that are keeping the nation from recovering.”

 

Lucy smiled, but the hard grumble in her stomach brought her back. “Well right now I’ll settle for some food. It doesn’t look that busy right now, is this just how it is in the Empire?”

 

Martis suddenly looked more than a little awkward. “Well, a lot of the Empire really don’t like being around soldiers. The military had to enforce a lot of rationing on certain resources during the war to ensure the soldiers at the front were supported.”

 

Lucy tried to process that idea. “What do you mean, why wouldn’t there be enough for everyone?”

 

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out from the SGC,” Alice said. “Why is it that they can carry on a conflict with the Goa’uld, with other nations on their own planet, and not need to enact similar measures.” There was a fire in her eyes; Lucy had seen similar fire when Erza had fought to get to the Tower of Heaven and Jellal. That look that said in no words that there would be no stopping her in pursuing this goal. It was one that she could respect.

 

A barmaid finally came up, giving little more than a polite smile as she stood waiting. “What’ll it be tonight?”

 

Alice froze, but Martis quickly took over. “We’ll have five helpings of pork and potatoes if you have any. And a round of ales?” The barmaid nodded, and as she walked off Martis looked over to Alice. “Lieutenant, why’d you freeze?”

 

Alice groaned. “I forgot what commoners usually have to eat.”

 

The wizards all turned to each other with confused gazes.

* * *

 

Mackenzie threw his notes down on the conference table outside of Gen. Hammond’s office. “If Lt. Malvin were under our command sir, we’d have her tried for dereliction.”

 

Everyone in the room blinked; Col. Mackenzie never talked like that, even Mercy could tell. His voice was still calm and flat, but it was the how of how he said it that made it clear he was less than pleased. “That’s a strong opinion colonel,” Gen. Hammond said, shaking off the small surprise. “What evidence do you have?”

 

“We can start with the fact that Cpl. Oland is still living under a bridge,” Mackenzie said. “Even after coming  back to his army he still lives under a bridge with a bunch of stray cats begging him for food. If they aren’t paying him, then we should find a way to. If they are, then why the hell hasn’t anyone asked where he’s living.”

 

“Given those scars I would’ve guessed the trauma ward,” Dr. Frasier said, trying to lighten the mood a little.

 

“That’s the other thing,” Mackenzie said, trying to pull his emotions back into check. “That man has PTSD, there’s no doubt about it. He seems fine, but that lamp does something to him. I don’t care that this Empire is decades behind us in terms of everything except women’s lib, it still insults me that a man with a gentle disposition like his has apparently been continually forced to go back onto the battlefield.” Mackenzie paused and took a breath before turning to Carter. “What’d you find out about the lantern major?”

 

“It’s a radio transmitter,” Carter said. “Designed to only broadcast one frequency.”

 

Mackenzie looked interested. “And you don’t know where the receiver is?” Carter nodded. “Dr. Frasier, Dr. Ziegler, did either of you notice any scarring on Cpl. Oland’s head that didn’t look like they happened in combat?”

 

Mercy shook her head. “I doubt that man has seen anything but combat seeing his body the way it is. Some of them even look like they only got the most basic treatment, they might as well have just rubbed dirt in them from how they looked.”

 

Mackenzie said nothing, but noted Mercy’s anger grow in her last statement. “Dr. Frasier, I think I have a very rough theory, but it might explain what might have happened to the corporal. Do you know about Penfield’s experiments at the Montreal Neurological Institute?”

 

Frasier shook her head. “I can understand the general idea, but what was their specific focus?”

 

“Electrical Brain Stimulation,” Mackenzie said. “That incident with Urgo? The same principle, just with less advanced tech.”

 

Mercy shook her head. “Who’s Urgo? And what do you mean the same principle?”

 

Carter sighed. “Urgo was an AI, designed to explore the universe by observing through the sense of other beings. Only the way he and his creator did it was that they put an implant into our heads.”

 

Mercy covered her mouth as the implication hit her. “So you think that-”

 

“We won’t know until tomorrow,” Mackenzie said. “I told Oland to go to the diner with two airmen to get some dinner. I was him as peaceable as possible to make sure that he remains as calm as possible. We need to get him a cranial x-ray, along with a CAT.”

 

Mercy nodded. “And an MRI?”

 

Frasier laughed, she couldn’t help it. “God no! We want to get him better, not kill him. If Col. Makenzie is right an MRI might wind up doing more damage.”

 

Mercy shook her head. “Impossible, if that were the case then whoever did it would be violating the Hippocratic Oath.”

 

“That’s exactly it Dr. Ziegler,” Col. Mackenzie said, expression grim. “Who said that every dimension has to have a Hippocratic Oath?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

 

Lucy was up early, stretching out as she saw the first rays of the sun peeking in through the windows. The room was simple, just six beds with a stand to the side with a washbowl, and after quickly splashing her face she went to look outside passing through the tavern and hearing someone in the kitchen getting ready for the day. The scenery was peaceful, looking out onto the village square and seeing the normal, quiet life of the people go on even just as the sun was rising. Throwing on her blouse, she decided that it could hurt to go outside for a bit and see what the town was like for herself.

 

The village wasn’t loud, and the shops and carts circling the fountain didn’t seem too busy. Still, the people in front of them were happy, chatting about life. Her son had just had his first kiss, or her daughter was going to have the girls christened next week. His brother had just tilled the south fields and was going to hire on some more help. A new shipment of books was coming to the town next week. Lucy smiled at it all; so peaceful and serene that she wondered if she might be able to visit again without the uniform and harsh bun.

 

Walking around the fountain, she noticed several people looking down from their windows at her. Smiling, she gave them a wave. They responded by turning away or sneering down, whispering to each other if they were close enough. Lucy’s smile faltered a little, and she quickly went back to the inn.

 

Walking back into the room, she saw Alice already up and dressing for the day. “Good morning. Sleep well?”

 

“Yeah, the beds were actually pretty comfortable.” Stretching out, Lucy smiled as she went to sit on the bed. “So, how much longer to the town?”

 

“Another half day of driving,” Alice said, smiling as she checked herself over in the room’s small mirror. “Let’s all get some breakfast and get moving.”

 

Quickly waking up the others and waiting for the men to shave (And Gray complaining that he kept cutting himself with the straight razor they had), the group went down to see the barman glaring at them as he finished setting the chairs at the tables. “Good morning sir, is there any breakfast?”

 

“No,” the man said, half grunting as he walked back to the bar. “No breakfast right now.”

 

Lucy blinked. “But isn’t there someone in the kitchen already?” The man sent a glare at Lucy, but when the celestial wizard looked to Alice for backup she saw the three soldiers already moving out the door, Gray and Erza trying to figure out why they were leaving. Unsure of what else to do, the three went out to the cars. “He was lying, there was someone in the kitchen.”

 

“We know,” Martis said, starting the lead auto. “It wasn’t something worth getting into a fight about. C’mon, we’ve got a way to go.”

 

The wizards all looked at each other. They were just leaving? So soon? As they circled the center of the village the smells of the bakery hit her nose, but as Lucy got hit with how hungry she was in the morning they were already on their way.

 

“You’ll get used to it,” Oreldo said as he drove on behind the lead auto. “The lieutenant had to learnt he same lessons the first time she started with Section III. Not everyone likes the Army.”

 

“That’s so weird though,” Lucy said. “I mean aren’t we the good guys? Why would anyone hate the Army this much?”

 

Oreldo shook his head. “During the war a lot of fighting on the border destroyed a lot of villages, or the military had to occupy them to use as defensive posts. Most of the people didn’t like it.”

 

“But it was a war,” Gray said. “Weren’t they protecting the people in those villages? I mean our army doesn’t do anything but lay around doing nothing, it sounds like here it actually has a reason to exist.”

 

Oreldo sighed. “You guys don’t know much about soldiers do you?”

 

Gray and Lucy looked to each other, and Lucy answered, “No, I guess we don’t, but what’s that got to do with anything?”

 

Oreldo shook his head. “You’ll learn soon enough if you’re gonna be with the MVTF for a while.”

 

“Hang on, you can’t just not tell us after saying that stuff,” Gray said. “Why do people hate the Army if the soldiers were fighting for them?”

 

“Oh the soldiers were fighting,” Oreldo said, in the same tone you’d hear someone talk about an annoying gossip neighbor or a hard-ass boss. “Sometimes it wasn’t the enemy that got the worst of their attention.”

 

Lucy gasped. “You mean they attacked their own cities? But why, I thought they were protecting them.”

 

Oreldo shrugged. “They just got bored I guess.” Lucy and Gray looked at each other, trying to figure out how someone could get bored enough to attack the people they were supposed to be defending. The ride on was much quieter after that.

* * *

 

Randel gazed in surprise as he was led into the Air Force hospital in Colorado Springs. The place was brightly lit, uniformed airmen sitting waiting for their appointments with mothers and children, a sight that surprised Randel. A military hospital in the Empire would never treat anyone that wasn’t a soldier, only officers wives got that kind of treatment.

 

Carter smiled as she saw Randel take in the sights of the place. “Radiology is back this way corporal,” she said, leading the way through the lobby. “Dr. Frasier, Dr. Ziegler, and Col. Mackenzie should already be there waiting for us.” Following, Randel still kept staring. Even with the staff staring at the giant among them, Randel didn’t get the feeling he was unwelcome. More like they were trying to figure out who he was and what on earth he was in for.

 

Following Carter into a small room, Randel saw an airman fiddling with a strange device he didn’t know; an exam table, with a post to the side holding some kind of machine that had several controls on it. Dr. Frasier and Col. Mackenzie stood by a small room, chatting to each other until Randel walked in. “Corporal, good morning. How’re you feeling?”

 

Randel tried his best to smile. “Oh, I’m fine ma’am.”

 

“Perfect,” Dr. Frasier said, motioning to the bed. “Now, I need you to put this on,” Frasier said, holding up some kind of weighted bib. Randel did so, but everyone in the room looked at each other when they realized it only went down to his chest. “Okay, maybe we’ll give you a second one.” As Randel lay down, the technician put a second bib on his waist as Dr. Frasier moved the machine over his head. “Alright Corporal, I need you to lay still for a few seconds. You know what an x-ray is?” Randel nodded. “Well we’re gonna do a few on your head, make sure everything in there is okay.”

 

Randel’s eyes widened. “Ma’am, is that really necessary?”

 

“Yes, given the kind of work you’ve done we’re worried about some kind of damage on the brain.” As she patted Randel’s shoulder Frasier was thankful she’d learned how to have a good poker face. “Now just lay still, we’ll just in in the room over there.” Smiling, she went with the technician, Carter, Mercy, and Mackenzie into the operator’s room. “He knows there’s something in his head.”

 

“I suspected as much,” Mercy said, watching as the technician went to the controls at a pair of monitors. “There’s no way he had whatever is in his head implanted without someone letting him know.”

 

Carter shook her head. “You’re banking a lot on the idea that whoever did this was being moral about it.”

 

“Well what kind of doctor would do such a thing to a man,” she argued, watching as Randel’s eyes nervously darted around the room. “Butchers do things like this, not doctors.”

 

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out Dr. Ziegler,” Mackenzie said, trying to draw Mercy away. “Oland is still his own man, it’s possible that this was a desperate measure during their war. It doesn’t make it right, but it does give us some necessary context.”

 

“In any case, the important thing is that we make sure Oland isn’t suffering from this.” Frasier nodded to the tech and went to the mic in the room. “Alright corporal, turn your head to the left.” Randel did so, and another x-ray was taken. “Now the right?” Another x-ray. “Good.” Walking out of the room, Dr. Frasier smiled brightly and gestured for Randel to sit up as she pushed the machine away. “Now, you go outside and wait while we go over what we have.”

 

Smiling, Randel walked out of the room to the chairs outside. Once the door was shut, Dr. Frasier walked back in to see everyone in the room staring at the same x-rays.

 

It wasn’t a large object, but it was large enough. It sat directly between the two hemispheres of the brain, with small tendrils running off into certain sections of the various regions of the mind. Carter shook her head. Mercy’s eyes were wide as she covered her mouth. Mackenzie stared hard at them, like he was already trying to puzzle out the mechanics of it all.

 

“Well this settles it,” Frasier said. “Now we see that the CAT tells us.”

* * *

 

Lucy saw it just over the hill; a massive collection of chimneys, standing as tall as the Magnolia city cathedral. As they crested the hill, Lucy saw the rest of the town spread before her.

 

Before her, a sprawling cityscape with small mason-built buildings in the center of a massive township. The roads ahead were paved, cobblestone closer to the center of the town. To the right, far in the distance, a train station where massive snaking freight trains rolled up with massive cars bearing what looked like piles of black rocks or flat cars carrying out piles of metal. There was a massive collection of metal structures in the distance away from the town, almost a miniature city unto itself. Lucy found her mind racing, wondering what it could be as she came closer.

 

“That’s it,” Oreldo said, nodding to the town ahead. “Erdegeboren.”

 

Driving onto a paved road at last, Lucy saw a sign beside the road into town made of steel that shone proudly in the sun, painted with bright yellow colors “Welcome to Erdegeboren”. Underneath a coat of arms; a twin-tower gray castle on a dark blue field.

 

This time the people of the town didn’t stare at the soldiers with venom. Instead they looked down curiously, asking each other who these new visitors were and what they were doing here. Lucy smiled, relieved that now they weren’t being treated like they were outsiders that didn’t belong. Every so often they would pass another auto, the drivers dressed in suits or wearing uniforms as they drove around women in well-tailored dresses. Children ran along the sidewalks, trying to keep up with the autos until they gave up with bright smiles. “ _This is more like it,_ ” Lucy thought. “ _This is like Magnolia._ ”

 

The center of town here was much more elaborate; the fountain was decorated with a statue of a bearded man in a tunic wielding a hammer over an anvil, a sword being forged beneath him. Here the buildings were taller, the shops fine clothing stores and expensive goods advertised in each window. One shop said that it was selling oranges, but Lucy didn’t understand why that was so impressive.

 

The two autos stopped in front of a more ornate building with tall columns on a wide staircase. “Erdegeboren city hall,” Alice said, hoping out of the auto. “It’s just like grandfather said it was.”

 

Lucy took in the sight herself and smiled. There was a carving atop it; a gallant charging knight atop a plated warhorse backed up by men with pikes charging as a harsher looking group of men with swords. Taking in the sight, Lucy followed Alice up the stairs, passing several men in suits who looked at the group with surprise.

 

The interior of the city hall reminded Lucy of the chambers of the Magic Council, with ornate marble on the ceiling and the floor. A wide desk sat in the center of the atrium, several receptionists sitting in prim and proper dresses and high hairstyles. “Good morning, welcome to the Erdegeboren City Hall,” the one facing them said, her voice bubbly as she looked toward them. “We’re pleased to see you here today ma’am, is there anything we can assist you with?”

 

“Yes, please tell the mayor that Lt. Alice Malvin of Army Intelligence State Section III is here to speak with him?” Lucy was surprised to see the woman’s eyes go wide, and like a shot she was running out of the desk and up the center staircase to the second floor, a wide smile splashed across her face the whole way as the other women tittered to each other.

 

Oreldo stared at the woman running out of sight. “Well, I definitely didn’t expect that.”

 

Martis spun at Alice. “Lieutenant, what kind of history does your family have with this town?”

 

Alice blinked. “Didn’t you notice the relief on top of the building?”

 

Oreldo facepalmed as Martis sighed and said, “Of course, what other reason would your family have to be associated with the town?”

 

Erza looked more impressed. “A fitting reason if you ask me. I don’t care what happens back at the SGC, there’s no better reason your team is involved with the MVTF.”

 

Oreldo yanked Erza back. “Easy on the name dropping here kid. Don’t know who’s listening.”

 

Erza blinked. “You mean you think-”

 

“Until we’re told otherwise,” Oreldo said, cutting Erza off. “If they’re in yours, what reason would we have to think they haven’t found their way here?”

 

Lucy’s train of thought about how horrifying that fact was got cut off by the sight of a man hurrying down the stairs in his own nice suit, with a gold collar hanging from his neck. He was a man of age, a well-trimmed but impressive mustache and thinning gray hair matched with a healthy waistline and bright eyes. “Lt. Malvin,” he said, smiling as he hurried over, a flock of other city officials trailing behind him all with the same excited smiles. “Let me personally welcome you to Erdegeboren.”

 

“Thank you, it’s an honor to be welcomed like this,” Alice said, smiling as she shook the mayor’s hand. “You’re a member of the Order of the Boar?”

 

The mayor laughed. “In my youth, but that was some time ago. I only wear this for important matters. Gerard Meyer m’lady.” He bowed, along with everyone Alice saw in the building. “Tell me, what brings you to Erdegeboren?”

 

“My duties with State Section III,” Alice said. “May I speak to you in your office?” The mayor deferred, the crowd of office staff and city officials parting as Alice and her team followed the man to his office. Lucy thought it was almost like a mini museum, with old coats of arms and aged paintings matched with books so old she wondered if they might be too fragile to touch. The mayor motioned for Alice to sit as he took his place behind his own desk. “I will admit to some small confusion, Lady Malvin. Erdegeboren was never truly affected by the war in any meaningful way, and we’ve never put in for any need regarding potential war relief.”

 

“Unfortunately there was a statement regarding Erdegeboren in our intelligence,” Alice said. Her tone wasn’t accusatory, only polite and conversational. “It seems the steel mill has been reporting some odd numbers, and the Army wanted a report prepared on why.”

 

Meyer nodded. “Yes, I told the owners of both they should be prepared for such an event. It was their idea to rework the production schedules, such as they are.”

 

“Would it be possible to speak with them?”

 

“Of course, but I’m sure you’re exhausted after your travels-”

 

“I don’t mean to spurn any kindness sir, but I wish to speak with them immediately.” Again, no accusation, just a request. “The sooner I can send my report to my superiors, the sooner I can spend time in the town my ancestor saved.”

 

The mayor nodded. “Very well lieutenant. I’ll take you to the offices they maintain in the city myself.”

 

Alice smiled, following the mayor out the door. As they went, Lucy noticed Alice look with great interest at one of the paintings; a knight in armor, raising a massive double-bladed weapon as long as a man over a slain foe on horseback, a battle clearly turning around him in his favor. There was a peculiar twinkle in Alice’s eye as she looked on the painting, and Lucy smiled at it. “ _So that’s why she wants to do such good._ ” Pushing any thought of Nod out of her head, Lucy happily followed the mayor out into the city.

* * *

 

Mercy glared at the CAT results. “The size of a thumb,” she growled. “Whoever did this doesn’t deserve to call themselves a doctor.”

 

“Whoever did this still knew what they were doing,” Mackenzie said, pacing the room. “Worse, it can’t be removed, if we tried we might kill him. Worse, we might disable him for life.”

 

“Presuming he even wants it removed,” Frasier said, looking at Randel as he saw up from the CAT scan machine. “We had to do all this just to find out it’s in him. God, imagine what it was like to get that implanted.”

 

Mercy shook her head. “Implanted? More like invasive. There’s no excuse for this to have been done, no war could require this kind of action.”

 

“I think we’re missing something else,” Carter said. “The Empire, it’s basically in a technological period roughly alike to the 1920s or 1930s right?” Everyone present that knew what they needed to know nodded. “Well this kind of technology wouldn’t have been thought of as practical until roughly the 1970s, even the 1980s.”

 

“Meaning someone is ahead of the game,” Mackenzie said. “Question is, does he know?” All eyes slowly turned to a sad looking man staring blankly ahead at a hospital wall.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

 

Hahn Steel and Mining Concern. The offices were more modern than the city hall; a tall brick building compared to the polished marble, standing tall amid the prospering city. “The company is run by the Hahn brothers, Johan and Kurt. Their father raised them well; they’ve used much of their personal wealth to support the city’s growth.”

 

“Not something you often hear,” Alice said. “How long have they ran the mine and mill?”

 

“Oh, about five years now.” Meyer said, opening the door to let Alice and her team inside and taking off his top hat. “They were the ones who managed to convince the government to recognize our town as a strategic location at the start of the war, then when their father died they took over.”

 

Lucy noticed as she walked up another difference between the offices and city hall; the men walking by wore suits that looked more familiar to what she had seen on TV in the SGC, moving to and from the building at a much more leisurely pace compared to the hurry around city hall. They laughed and joked, even flirted with the women that passed by.

 

Walking through the doors, the ornate trappings of the city hall were replaced with a plain wood-paneled reception desk with two women at the front. The secretaries here were still dressed professionally, but compared to the city hall Lucy noticed Oreldo’s grin get a little wider. “Good morning, welcome to Hahn Steel and Mining, how can I help you today Mayor Meyer?”

 

“I’d like to speak to the Hahns please, Brigit,” Meyer said, smiling politely at the girl. “One of the Malvin Family has come to ask about a small matter today.”

 

“Of course, one moment sir.” With the same small, polite smile the receptionist here simply grabbed a small phone and dialed. “Hello, Maria? Can you please tell Mr. Hahn that a member of the Malvin family is here to speak with him and his brother? Thank you.” Hanging up, she turned to Meyer and Alice. “They’ll be waiting for you at Mr. Hahn’s office, the elevator is around the corner on your right.”

 

Meyer nodded. “Thank you Brigit. This way, Lt. Malvin.” Rounding the corner of the reception desk, Lucy saw a bank of elevators with one still waiting for passengers. A man in a simple uniform stood waiting, hand on the controls. “Mr. Hahn’s floor please?” The operator nodded, waiting for everyone to board before sliding a grate shut across the door and pulling back on a lever. Lucy saw a mechanical counter marking each floor, skipping nine up to the very top; eighteen.

 

As the teams left the elevator, Lucy noticed there were only two desks on opposite sides of the top floor, both with identical women facing each other as they worked at their files for the day. The one on the left looked up and smiled. “Good morning Mr. Meyer.”

 

“Good morning ladies,” Meyer said. “Are the Hahn’s ready to meet?”

 

“Mr. Johan is in the conference room sir,” the one on the right said. “Mr. Kurt will be with you in a few moments.” Meyer nodded, and leading on to the other side of the room motioned for the teams to head through a simple door that read, “Conference Room”.

 

Inside was a long table, polished so well that Lucy thought it could reflect. A series of windows faced the exterior, specifically across the town toward the smokestacks. A young man in a sharply pressed suit sat at the head, rising and smiling with perfect teeth as he made his way to the group. “Mayor Meyer, good to see you sir.”

 

“And you, Mr. Hahn,” Meyer said, taking the businessman’s hand like he was meeting an old friend. “May I introduce, Lieutenant Alice Malvin and her team from Army Intelligence State Section III.”

 

The man with perfectly-coiffed chestnut hair smiled and shook Alice’s hand. “Johan Hahn, president of Hahn Steel and Mining. An honor to meet a member of the Malvin family.”

 

“An honor to be here Mr. Hahn,” Alice said, smiling as Johan motioned for them to take a seat at the table. “My grandfather told me stories about the fighting against the bandits here, of how my ancestor rallied the people of the town to drive out the scoundrels.”

 

“And ever since Erdegeboren has prospered,” Johan said, smiling as he sat back down. “I got to see your grandfather once when I was a young boy, he came to the town to celebrate the liberation of the town shortly before the war. He was a great man, it was heartbreaking to hear when he had passed. But now here you are, a loyal soldier of the Empire. I can only imagine how proud he would feel were he here now.”

 

The door to the room opened, a man with short-cut brown hair hurrying in with sleeves rolled up as he wiped oil and grease from his hands. “Sorry, sorry! Just got finished with one of my projects.”

 

Johan shook his head. “Lt. Malvin, my older brother Kurt. Kurt, this is Lt. Alice Malvin.”

 

Kurt blinked, then turned and smiled as he shook Alice’s hand. “Oh, Lt. Malvin, a pleasure, a real pleasure.”

 

“Kurt is in charge of our company’s development projects, as well as being something of an inventor.”

 

“Completely amateur I assure you,” Kurt said, smiling as he took a seat next to his brother. “I never had the patience for formal procedure, I just saw problems and wanted to fix them. The only time I’ve ever been part of a formal laboratory is when I was in university.”

 

“Our father insisted we get educations before taking over the business,” Johan said. “Of course he says he’s an amateur, but it doesn’t stop him from selling his creations to anyone that’s interested in buying.”

 

“Well you’re the businessman,” Kurt said. “You make more money with a pen and a handshake than I do with a hundred inventions.”

 

“It’s a game they play,” Meyer said with a chuckle. “One tries to play up the other until they both give up and let someone else talk for a change.”

 

Alice nodded. “Far be it from me to interrupt then.”

 

“But interrupt you must,” Johan said. “Kurt, Lt. Malvin is here regarding our production figures.”

 

Kurt sighed. “My letter must not have gone through to the materiel board. I told the postman that it was a vital delivery.”

 

“Suffice to say lieutenant, we’re aware that it appears there’s a shortfall despite operating at all hours.” Johan gestured to the window. “You see, the reason is we’re trying to make our operations safer and more cost effective. If you’d like, we can take you there yourselves to see.”

 

“Anything to help us would be greatly appreciated,” Alice said. “Oreldo, Erza, you’ll come with me. Martis, take Lucy and Gray and stay with the cars. Send a letter to the captain telling him that everything is just like it was in the village of Magnolia.”

 

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to come along,” Johan said. “There’s a few contracts I still need to go over, but I can show your people about the town if you’d be alright with that lieutenant.”

 

“That’s fine,” Alice said, rising from the table. “We’ll follow your car Mr. Hahn.”

 

“Nonsense, I have more than enough space for the two you want to bring along,” Kurt said, suddenly looking as excited as a child with a new toy. “I just finished tinkering with my sport auto yesterday.”

 

Johan’s smile meshed with a nervous cringe. “Just don’t open it when you’re going through the town? The only reason the last shop owner didn’t raise a fuss is because we paid for the lost sales during the rebuilding of his shop.” Kurt paused, had a look of realization hit, and nodded as he led the way down the stairs. Oreldo suddenly looked ill as he followed. “These contracts will take a bit, but I’ll be happy to meet with you all at city hall. I’ll see you all shortly.”

 

Lucy smiled, following Mr. Meyer to the elevators and walking back out onto the street with the sun shining brightly down. “Well, looks like everything’s explained.”

 

“Certainly,” Meyer said, leading the way back to the city hall with his top hat firmly on his head. “While we’re walking, perhaps a tour of the town? It’s about time I take my lunch and I do enjoy a good walk about the town this time of day.”

 

Martis waved the offer off. “Thanks sir, but we’d better be getting back to the auto at city hall. Plus we can’t tell Mr. Hahn we’ve already seen everything the town has to offer, he might lose the wind in his sails.”

 

Meyer chuckled. “You’re not wrong. He always was the better showman of the family. Well, good day to you all then.” Bowing slightly, Meyer walked on through the streets, the people of the town waving happily as he passed them.

 

“Looks like we won’t be here very long at all,” Lucy said happily.

 

Gray looked over at Martis. “Hey, why’d Alice tell you to send Capt. Hunks a letter about Magnolia?”

 

“I’ll explain tonight,” Martis said patiently, already speeding for city hall. “C’mon, we need to get that letter out.”

* * *

 

Gen. Hammond looked over the images and shook his head as he walked the conference table. “Can it be removed?”

 

“Not without risking serious damage to the brain sir,” Dr. Frasier said. “We don’t even know what we’re dealing with, which is the real problem. This kind of technology and understanding of the brain shouldn’t have been possible with the developmental time frame we’re looking at.”

 

“Well somehow it is, we’re looking at the proof.” Mercy glared down at the table; looking at another human being was something she couldn’t consider right now. “Surely some part of the MVTF knows a means to remove this thing.”

 

Gen. Hammond turned to Carter. “A sarcophagus?”

 

“Also dangerous sir, we might wind up making his mental state even more unstable.”

 

“The Asgard?”

 

Carter thought for a second. “Possible sir, we’d need to check that this might not be the same reason they can’t remove Teal’c’s symbiote.”

 

“What about Cpl. Oland?”

 

Everyone turned to look at Col. Mackenzie, Mercy the first to open up. “What are you talking about?”

 

“Well first we don’t know anything about his history, not even where he comes from. If we force him to get this removed without understanding why it’s in his mind in the first place, we might only make things worse for him and anyone else who had this done to them.”

 

Mercy shot up from her chair. “That thing was implanted into him and you don’t want to remove it? You can’t possibly be serious!”

 

“Of course I want it removed, but we have to consider Oland in all this.” Mackenzie waited until Mercy sat back down. “We need to know more about his history. Clearly no one in his unit did because of the situation they’re in. Either we find out what happened to him, or all we can do is tell him that the lantern is off limits.”

 

Gen. Hammond nodded. “I want Cpl. Oland interviewed tomorrow, anything we can find out about his past. Dr. Ziegler, Dr. Frasier, I want both of you to get to work on what it would take to remove that device if we do have to operate. Maj. Carter, find a way to see about possibly disabling the device in Oland’s head if we can’t remove it.”

 

Mercy gathered up her things and rushed to the infirmary, Dr. Frasier barely keeping pace. “Little heated.”

 

“That thing needs to be taken out of him,” Mercy said, eyes alive with rage held back by professionalism. “That technology is barely out of the 1930s, and someone thought to implant a device into his skull that they might not know anything about?”

 

“Now we’re jumping to conclusions,” Frasier said, going to put up the x-rays and scans on the view board. “What we need to do is figure out if there’s a way we can get it out of him. Could we do it in your dimension?”

 

“Perhaps, but even with removing the device we still don’t know what damage its already done. We could be doing incredible harm, to say nothing of the damage done to the corpus callosum by putting that device in the center of the brain.”

 

“Well he looks like he’s doing pretty well so far,” Frasier said. “Hey, look at this.” Mercy came over, seeing Frasier point to the left and right-side x-rays. “What does this look like to you?”

 

Mercy followed the wires inside Oland’s head, seeing that a majority of them led to the frontal lobe. “Mein Gott.”

* * *

Martis finished with the letter, sealing it in Mercury’s messenger case and sending the dog on his way. Gray rolled his eyes. “Do you ever think you guys are too paranoid?”

 

“Guess we’re just used to it,” Martis said, watching as Mercury ran off through the streets.

 

Lucy frowned. “That doesn’t sound like a great way to go through life.”

 

Martis shrugged as he made sure his rifle was safely locked in the trunk of the auto, putting the ammo in his pocket. “Well we have to right now. We still don’t have any information on how far this goes into the government, otherwise we could shoot ourselves in the foot or worse.”

 

Lucy sighed. “It can’t be this hard though. I mean isn’t there a way to find the source?”

 

“If we went too clearly into the idea that we’re looking for them, we make it necessary to stop us. We have to either take it slow and make sure we have the information we need, or risk it all on a chance that might not succeed.”

 

Lucy turned away. It wasn’t that she thought Martis was being rude, he certainly wasn’t. It wasn’t that she didn’t consider what he was saying either, she wasn’t a fool. It was the fact that Martis just seemed so used to a life of suspicion and conspiracy.

 

“Hello there.” Turning, Lucy’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of Johan in his slick suit and hat, smiling as he walked up. “Sorry to keep you all waiting.”

 

“Oh, no trouble at all sir,” Lucy said, smiling happily. “We were just making sure of a few things ourselves.”

 

“Well I’d hate to interrupt the work of any soldier,” he said, holding out a hand. “I don’t think I heard your name.”

 

“Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia.” Shaking Johan’s hand, she saw that his blue eyes sparkled even under the shade of his brim. “So where are we going?”

 

“Well you all must be starving after a long trip, so I figured I should take you all to the new restaurant that just opened three streets over. it has air conditioning, first in the town, though it’s mostly foreign food. Still, it’s not so wrong to try something new after all."

 

Lucy smiled. “No, it isn't, is it."

 

Rounding up the small group, Johan led the way through the town. People smiled and waved, greeting him more like a friend than Lucy had seen people greet her father when he was still the head of the Heartfilia Konzern. Vendors laughed and made small talk, tossing him some of their wares as he tossed them some coin. The police nodded to him, laughing as they joked about raucous festivals and parties from the past few months.

 

“It’s so nice around here,” Lucy said. “At least no one’s giving us any dirty looks here.”

 

“People around here don’t have the same opinions on the Army as the rest of the Empire,” Johan said. “Even with the town considered a special region for the purpose of conscription, many families had sons and husbands enlist to serve during the war. Most people around here actually take it as a point of pride that their men chose to serve, rather than being forced to.”

 

“That’s pretty nice,” Lucy said, shooting Martis a look. “Almost like it isn’t necessary to worry about getting into trouble while we’re here.”

 

“Trouble is the last thing we want,” Johan said, dodging past a trio of kids running down the street. “So what about you Pvt. Heartfilia? What’s your home like?”

 

Lucy laughed, trying to keep it from sounding nervous. “Actually I left my home a while ago. I wanted to make my own way in life, but my dad and I didn’t quite see eye to eye on that.”

 

Johan nodded. “My father was the same way with my brother. ‘Every man in our family is part of the family business’, they had so many fights over what he wanted to do my mother and I lost count. It wasn’t until my brother started making things at the mill more efficient that he started to listen.”

 

“Mine too,” Lucy said happily. “Once he realized how happy I was, he realized that I was able to make my own choices.”

 

“It just takes some people time to see,” Johan said. “Other times, well if they can’t see what’s in front of them they must be blind.” Lucy was smiling like a fool as she felt herself get as hot under the collar as Gray in the uniform.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Still plugging along here. I know some of you might have something to say, but remember that I'm looking for whatever feedback you might have to give. Good, bad, comments, if you have'em I want'em. Next chapter out soon!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Alice and Oreldo held on for all that was holy as Kurt sped through the winding roads to the mine. “Most of our workers take a trolley system to the mines and mills, these roads are just used for personal cars by the managers if they want to.”

 

Erza was the only one willing to speak up as the car swerved just enough to barely miss a massive tree at a bend in the road. “Are your workers happy sir?”

 

“We make sure to pay our workers a fair wage for their time and effort,” Kurt said, doing some masterful gearwork as he navigated an S-turn. “We make sure to provide for our employees off of work as well. My brother and I have donated to see that new schools were built over the past few years to see their children are educated along with other local restoration projects.”

 

Erza smiled as the car fish-tailed a little around a bend. “Your brother and yourself are quite the philanthropists. Your father must be proud.”

 

Kurt laughed. “Our father was an older mindset; they work for you, you pay them. He didn’t realize how important worker loyalty is until after what happened in the Republic.” Erza filed that away to ask about later.

 

Cresting a hill, Erza saw a massive open pit of earth ahead. Trucks and bulldozers and heavy equipment were lined up at the entrance, but the pit itself was practically empty of life. “They must be on schedule with the blasting,” Kurt said, coming on a straight. “Okay, I’m gonna open up the engine now.” Before Alice or Oreldo could protest, the car roared ahead.

 

Ten minutes later, Alice and Oreldo were still staring ahead with their hair blown back as Erza hopped out of the car behind Kurt. “We’re opening up a new seam, this is actually earlier than I expected. The planning was that we’d have to wait until at least tomorrow.” Walking up to the gate, Kurt was quickly waved through with his guests, everyone getting a hardhat as they went to the small wooden office on the site.

 

An older man with a sweat-stained shirt and thick bushy mustache smiled as they came up. “Mr. Hahn! We didn’t expect to see you here today.”

 

“A surprise visit from Army Intelligence,” Kurt said, jerking a thumb at Alice. “They wanted to know about our production figures.”

 

The man laughed, but a loud siren cut him off. “Better get to cover sir, we’ll show them in a minute.”

 

Erza followed the small group to take cover behind the office, but her curiosity got the better of her as she peeked out around the nearest corner to see what would happen. The siren wailed on, drowning out the conversation behind her about how long the mine had been working, then she saw what looked like arcs of lightning strike through the ground along the side of the pit. A split-second later the earth erupted upwards, solid rock turning into plumes of dust jetting a hundred feet into the air. The sound tore through her ears, and Erza stood in awe as what was one a solid piece of ground drifted away or settled on the ground. The wizard could feel small pieces of dirt and rocks strike her uniform, but she was too awed to care.

 

The trucks and cranes quickly rolled into place, excavators quickly positioning themselves to take up the massive piles of earth and load them into the dump trucks. Miners quickly went about the pit, shouting to each other and pointing to various parts of the ground. “They’re checking the stability of the rest of the pit,” Kurt shouted. “Once they know which area is safe, they’ll plant more charges for the next round of blasting.”

 

Erza watched as several dump trucks were loaded in quick succession. “And this goes all day?”

 

“Three shifts through the day and night,” Kurt answered. “My brother and I realized that the old twelve-hour day was too dangerous, workers get exhausted and lose focus. Ever since we implemented the new shifts we’re seeing less accidents and less time spent to repair damaged parts.”

 

Alice nodded. “Where does this go from here?”

 

“The rail yard,” Kurt said. “It’s by the old mines, back when people thought the only way to get to ore was to dig into the earth instead of bringing it up and out.”

 

Alice nodded. “So would you say that this is why the production of ore has gone down?”

 

“Yes, but your numbers should bear out that it’s at worst a minor drop,” Kurt said, handing his hard hat back to the mustachioed man. “We’re making sure our people take their time, that we establish good safety measures before launching back into our normal production rate. This way, back to the car.” As Alice and Oreldo looked nervously at each other, Erza thought she saw a group of men carrying shovels and looking more like they had just come out of the earth walking from the same direction the dump trucks were going. She didn’t think anything of it though, probably just another group of miners. “ _They must get their hard hats once they actually get into the mine._ ” Still, something felt wrong about the looks on their faces as they went in that Erza couldn't put a finger on.

* * *

 

Randel stared down at the floor in Col. Mackenzie’s office. “You’re not in any trouble son, you know that.”

 

“I do.”

 

Mackenzie sighed. “Did you agree to have this done?” Randel shook his head. “The Empire forced this on you.” A nod. “Have you told Lt. Malvin, or Capt. Hunks?” A shake. “Why not?”

 

“I don’t think they deserve to know,” Randel said, his voice quiet. “They didn’t do the things I did in the war.”

 

Mackenzie shook his head. “You were put under duress son. Your superiors ordered you to do things that were morally wrong. Here the fault is the people who put you in such a place, not you.”

 

Randel shook his head, still refusing to look up at Mackenzie. “I did though. I sold myself into it, I did choose to do this to myself.”

 

Mackenzie kept his composure, but he was sure that right now Mercy had just felt her heart drop into an ice bath. “And the Army knew this.” Randel nodded. “You blame yourself?”

 

“Who else can I blame?” Randel said, starting to shake. “I was too weak to do anything else to try and help my family. All I could think of doing was selling myself to the mobs to get a little more food on their plates.”

 

“You didn’t know there was any other option,” Mackenzie said, trying very hard to keep his voice under control. “You were coerced into this situation. If you had to keep yourself from getting killed, then no court could ever convict you. You’re not a bad person Randel.”

 

Randel shuddered, and Mackenzie quickly backed down. He quickly scribbled down on his notepad; guilt, survivors guilt? PTSD compounded. Self-sacrificing, possible martyr complex?

 

“It’s not that I don’t think the lieutenant wouldn’t be willing to help,” Randel said, his shaking starting to subside. “It’s just that she would. I don’t want to risk her life on what happened to me.”

 

“This group is so powerful it could hurt a member of the Empire’s thirteen families?” Randel nodded. “You know that we can protect her though? The MVTF isn’t just going to let members of a team that it’s working alongside slip through the cracks.”

 

Randel shook his head. “The MVTF won’t always be around.”

 

Watching from behind the glass, Mercy and Frasier both glared, though Mercy’s eyes looked empty. “Unbelievable,” Mercy whispered. “What could justify this kind of treatment of their people?”

 

“It’s possible the war just got that bad,” Frasier said, sounding defeated. “We’ve seen it on several worlds, desperate measures being taken to try and stave off defeat a little longer.”

 

“And that justifies it?” Mercy kept staring at Randel as Mackenzie patiently waited for him to go on. “Cultural relativity is one thing, but forcing a man to do the things Cpl. Oland has done to himself is not something to compare to.”

 

“The fact is we still don’t have a full picture,” Frasier said, scribbling down her own notes. “Oland probably only knows the most basic functions of the device, nothing about how it works or how we could safely remove it.”

 

“She’s the only one that knows.”

 

Both doctors looked back to the glass. “Who Randel,” Mackenzie said. “Who knows?”

 

“Dr. Kauplan,” he whispered. “She’s the one who still keeps monitoring me.”

 

Mackenzie nodded. “Does Lt. Malvin know about her?”

 

Randel shook his head. “No one in Section III does.”

 

Mercy shook her head. “A conspiracy with this kind of infrastructure can’t keep itself secret forever. There must be more proof somewhere.”

 

“We’re missing a more important fact,” Frasier said. “This was all official, there’s no way their government didn’t have some idea of what was happening. Even if it was covered up as best they could? The Empire must have a vested interest in keeping it quiet.”

 

Mercy sighed. “How long will it take to contact the Asgard?”

 

“SG-2 is on Cimmeria now, we should get an answer in two days.”

 

Mercy nodded, turning back to the glass to see Randel still glaring down at the floor.

* * *

 

Lucy sighed as she forced herself to keep walking down the street, dodging past a man in a black suit and hat. “That was delicious Mr. Hahn, I haven’t eaten like that in a long time.”

 

“It was my pleasure,” Hahn said, leading them back to the town square. “I always enjoy a good meal.”

 

“Mr. Hahn, I do have a question,” Martis said. “It was mentioned that you and your brother have chosen to use your money to help with public works, but why your own money? The national taxes on business should have been more than enough to build the town up.”

 

Johan nodded. “That’s true, but let me show you something.” Walking a little faster, Johan walked to the town square and opened his arms. “What do you all see?”

 

Lucy blinked. “The…The town square?”

 

“Yes, as it is now.” Johan’s eyes went back into the past as he spoke. “Just after the end of the war, my brother and I had a town that even far from the front was suffering from the war. Fatherless children sat about causing trouble, and there was hardly anyone here to care for the town. No one was here to clean the streets or police the neighborhoods, but my brother and I knew that it would take time to count on the Empire when there was already so much damage everywhere else. So we decided that the only right thing to do was to donate whatever we could to make sure the town could be back to normal as soon as possible.”

 

“I get it,” Gray said. “You can’t have a mill if the town collapses.”

 

“Exactly private,” Johan said, walking in a circle around the fountain. “Why that fountain didn’t have any water, and the relief on top of city hall was covered in soot. Now look at it. Exactly as it was before the war.”

 

Martis nodded. “I’m sure the mayor was very thankful then.”

 

“It was a joint effort,” Johan said, smiling as he walked back to his offices. “The mayor ensured that all the money was handled properly, that the proper amounts went to where they needed to.”

 

“And the workers helping with these projects were fairly compensated?”

 

Lucy blinked. It looked like Johan’s eyes went wide for a second, but then he started laughing. “Of course they were. Wouldn’t do Erdegeboren any good to have a bad reputation for not paying workers a fair share.”

 

Martis nodded, but Gray realized it was a sneak. If he was a private well fine, but he was sure that even privates were allowed to glare at their superiors.

 

“Tell you all what,” Johan said. “Why don’t you all join my brother and I for dinner? We have plenty of space in our manor, and I’m sure it’d be a nice reprise from life on the road.”

 

Lucy smiled. “Really, that wouldn’t be a problem?”

 

“Well of course I’d have to speak with Lt. Malvin, but I certainly wouldn’t have any problem with more company in the house every once in a while.”

 

Martis thought for a second, then nodded. “I wouldn’t see any problem with it sir, I don’t think Lt. Malvin would mind at all.”

 

Gray said nothing, his glare just got harder.

* * *

 

“Here we are,” Kurt said, pulling up to a massive gate. Behind him was a sprawling complex of towering metal and rail lines. Two guards stood behind them, with a small stripped-down auto rolling up bearing an older man in the same guard uniform; a gray dress shirt and dark gray trousers with a pistol belt across his waist and chest topped with a gray side cap. “Mr. Hahn! The mine supervisors told me you’d be here.”

 

“This is Mr. Berger, our chief of security,” Kurt said, getting out as the gate was opened. “We have visitors Mr. Berger, State Section III. Lieutenant Alice Malvin.”

 

“Welcome to the mill lieutenant,” Berger said, his ruddy face beaming in the sunlight. “Pleasure to have you here, it’s about time the Empire recognized how much the Hahn’s have given to their country.”

 

“Unfortunately nothing of that nature sir,” Alice said, shaking the man’s hand. “We’re here looking into some odd production reports.”

 

“I told them this would happen,” Berger said, smiling as he looked to Kurt. “Mr. Kurt likes to try out new things, but they take longer to work than he likes them to. You’ll have come with me, I’m afraid that having a racing car around the mill is too dangerous. Especially if Mr. Kurt is driving.” Laughing, Berger awkwardly hopped back into his seat and waited for the four to join him.

 

“We’ve been attempting to utilize a new advancement at the mill as well, one that could take hours and expenses off production. The trick has been making it work.” Kurt smiled as they drove through the mill, but Erza scowled. The air was thick with the stench of metal and fumes, nearly choking her as she went. She’d never experienced such an overpowering stench before, and when she saw how easily Berger spoke in it she was astounded.

 

“That and it’s a technique pioneered in the Republic,” Berger said with derision.

 

Alice blinked. “Has this been alerted to the Imperial Manufacturing Committee?”

 

“Yes, we’ve already gone through the proper procedure to ensure that all clearances are given for it.” Kurt turned and smiled. “All the methods of manufacture we use are cleared by the Empire.”

 

As Erza tried to ignore the smell, she saw a massive wall of metal. “What is that?”

 

Kurt looked over and smiled. “Coking ovens. You don’t know about milling do you? Coal doesn’t get hot enough to actually melt iron ore, at least not to the point you can make steel out of it. You need to essentially bake the coal in ovens to burn off impurities, leaving as much carbon behind as we can get. Look, one’s being pushed out now.”

 

As Erza watched, one of the slats in the wall was opened, and out into a waiting rail car poured bright-orange chunks that caught the air around them afire. As soon as the car was full, it went into a tower that suddenly had steam pouring out of it. “Isn’t this dangerous?”

 

“Yes, but we make sure our workers are trained properly in all aspects of their jobs,” Kurt said. “For the past two years we’ve made significant progress in cutting lethal accidents and injuries down to nearly zero. Within ten years, we want to have no fatalities in our employee rolls.” Erza wasn’t so sure about that as she watched another rail car show up to another section of the ovens.

 

Following the rail lines, Erza saw the massive towers they’d seen in the distance coming up on the town. “Here’s the blast furnaces,” Kurt shouted, Erza seeing several workers moving around as small cars were loaded cars that led up to the top of the massive cylinder. “They only stop when we need to perform maintenance, otherwise it will go every day for as long as we’re all alive.”

 

As Erza watched the furnaces, she thought she saw two of the workers peeking out from behind a metal girder at the auto, but just as soon as she saw them they were gone again.

 

“And here’s the mill itself, and the reason we’re showing a slight decrease in production.” Awkwardly hopping out of the auto, Berger led the way into the mill as a massive bucket was filled with iron ingots. “You see that bucket? Watch where it goes.”

 

Watching Erza saw the bucket lifted up to a strange device that had three glowing protrusions. The bucket emptied into the device, the lid closed, and Erza watched as the three protrusions were pushed down inside as sparks and flames licked out of the edges.

 

The air came alive with an almighty roar, as a deafening hum nearly sent Erza to the ground. Sparks erupted out of the top of the device, though none of the workers around it seemed to care. She saw Alice and Oreldo clamping their hands over their ears, but to her shock she saw Kurt and Berger watching impassively even as they were undoubtedly being deafened.

 

“Electric arc furnacing,” Kurt said, leading them back outside. “Eighty megawatts of electric power; heats faster than the old methods and twice as efficient. The Republic has been using them to try and forward their half-decade projections.”

 

Oreldo desperately tried to clear his ears. “So why the production problems?”

 

“Steel’s a very fine process, even after centuries of production,” Kurt said. “Mixing in the various component metals takes time, and arc furnacing is so new I want to make sure that we don’t rush off too fast. With luck, we’ll be able to convert all steel mills to using this method. Shorten production, and finally get to rebuilding the Empire along with our tanks.”

 

Alice nodded. “We’ll need to see the documentation on your interactions with the committee.”

 

Before Kurt could answer, there was a scream from inside the mill that got Erza running. Skidding to a stop, she saw several workers clustered around another; the man’s face was warped in agony, screaming unintelligibly as he gripped his leg.

 

Berger pushed past Erza, kneeling down at the man’s side as the others quickly backed away. Erza couldn’t hear what Berger was saying, but she noticed the look of terror on the injured man’s face. Nodding, Berger motioned for the men and went back. “A stray spark caught him on the leg. I’ll have to talk to Mr. Kurt about widening the area that’s off limits when the arcs are active.”

 

Erza nodded, but following Berger back out she noticed that all the men we staring at her with empty eyes.

 

Eyes she’d had as a girl.

 

Back outside, she saw Berger and Kurt talking, before Berger limped to his auto. “He’s driving to get the doctor we have at the mill, we’ll have to walk back to the gate. Sorry you had to see that lieutenant, like I told you this technology is still something we’re getting a handle on.” Alice nodded, but Erza could tell she was suspicious.

 

As they walked past the gate, Oreldo pointed to a small shack off to the side of the path. “What’s with the machine guns?”

 

“Oh, the Empire’s paranoia,” Kurt said, smiling again. “The Empire apparently believed we needed a way for our security staff to defend ourselves if some kind of Republic unit somehow made it this far into the interior. I know, it must sound ridiculous.”

 

Oreldo gave Alice a grin. “Oh, we’ve seen some pretty ridiculous stuff ourselves.”

 

With a smile, Kurt jumped back into the driver’s seat. “Well, let’s go everyone. Odds are my brother’s already convinced your other three comrades to stay for dinner. If that’s alright with you lieutenant?”

 

Alice nodded, trying to press herself into the seat and still look dignified. “Not at all, I think a good meal would do us all some good.”

 

Erza didn't say anything, she was too busy reliving hell.

* * *

 

Lucy giggled. “So what did the wife say to the farmhand?”

 

Johan gave her a wide smile. “She said, ‘That’s eggs over easy’!”

 

Lucy laughed, kicking her feet as she sat on the auto. “That’s so funny Mr. Hahn!”

 

“Please, call me Johan,” he said, leaning his elbow on the car. “You know you’re not like anyone I’ve ever met Lucy. Something about you just seems so different.”

 

Lucy smiled as best she could, Gray and Martis both looking over in shock. “Well, I guess I just have a naturally optimistic view on things.”

 

Johan smiled, staring into Lucy’s eyes like a man watching sunset on a lake. “So, how much longer are you going to be in the Army for?”

 

Lucy tried to wave away the question. “Oh, you know, as long as I think I need to be.” In the back of her mind she said, “ _Hopefully I’ll be out tomorrow though._ ”

 

“Well I hope you don’t think I’m being too forward,” Johan said, suddenly looking bashful. “I was just wondering if perhaps you’d like to come here when you’re not in uniform.” Lucy blushed. Gray’s jaw dropped. Martis facepalmed.

 

“Mr. Hahn?” Turning, Hahn saw one of the receptionists from his office hurrying over. “Mr. Hahn, a phone call from the mills.”

 

Johan sighed and went to the offices. “One moment, Pvt. Heartfilia.”

  
As soon as Johan was in the building, Lucy turned to Gray with a face as red as a ripe tomato covered in ketchup being held by an Irishman with bad sunburn. “Oh my gosh he really was flirting with me!”

 

Gray nodded. “No kidding, I’ve never seen anyone lay it on so thick.”

 

Lucy stared at Gray for a second. “You’re right, you must not be able to see it. Martis, what do we do?”

 

Martis thought for a second. “This could help us.”

 

Lucy blinked. “What?!”

 

“Think about it, if Johan is taking to you this might be a way for us to get more information out of him.” Martis looked up at the offices. “If we can get more out of him, it can confirm things one way or the other about what’s happening here.”

 

Gray groaned. “Enough with the paranoia! Not everyone has some reason to be terrible people.”

 

Martis turned to Gray. “Well here they do. If they’re not the rich and powerful trying to get more of what they already have it’s people so desperate for what they don’t they’ll do anything for it. How is it your guild hasn’t faced anything like this yet?”

 

“Because…” Gray paused, but shook it off. “Because maybe we don’t treat everyone we come across as being some kind of bad guy. And why can’t Lt. Malvin do it?”

 

“Because Lt. Malvin’s my superior,” Martis said flatly. “Plus, he likes you Lucy. If we’re wrong, we’ll write it off and move on. Right now we need to focus on what we know; the mill and mine are giving us bad numbers, he’s the president of the company that owns both. The sooner we get more information, the sooner we can leave.”

 

Lucy sighed. “Fine, I get it. Just don’t expect me to like it.”

 

A roaring engine announced the return of Alice and the others, Kurt smiling as he jumped out of his racing auto. Alice and Oreldo both shuddered as they stepped out, as Erza calmly stepped out onto the street with a funny look on her face. Kurt walked up to Martis, eyes alight as he went. “So, where’s my brother, back in the office?” Martis nodded. “Perfect! I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

 

As Kurt disappeared into the offices, Alice shook off the drive. “I need to talk to the mayor. Martis, did Mr. Hahn extend an invitation to dinner?” A nod. “Very well. We’ll go to dinner, after that we’ll investigate the mine and mill.” Leaving her teams, Alice went into the city hall, nodding to the women at the front desk and hurrying to the mayor’s office.

 

“Mr. Meyer?” Knocking at the door, Alice didn’t hear anyone on the other side. Gently opening the door, she peeked inside. The office was quiet, Meyer’s chair turned to face the window, a hand on the arm of the old leather chair. “Mr. Meyer?” Stepping inside, Alice went for the desk when she still didn’t get an answer. “Mr. Meyer, can I talk to you please?” More silence. Alice was walking faster now. “Mr. Meyer?”

 

Turning Mr. Meyer’s chair around, Alice saw the man’s body slumped in the chair, mouth hanging open. Her hand covered her mouth; the suddenness of it-

 

Mr. Meyer let out a ripping snore, Alice jumping and letting out a surprised yelp. The old mayor jerked awake, realizing he was still in his office and smiling. “Oh, sorry lieutenant. An old man like me needs his sleep after all.”

 

“It’s fine Mr. Meyer,” Alice said, catching her breath. “I wanted to ask you for something. Is it possible to get a list of the men who enlisted from Erdegeboren during the war?”

 

Meyer nodded, shuffling up from his desk. “Yes, I should have them here,” he said, going to a small cabinet set to the side. “I remember when the war started, even with our special conscription status the young men were all anxious to fight for the Empire.”

 

“I remember my father and grandfather talking about the surge in enlistments across the Empire,” Alice said as Meyer pulled out a small folder of papers. “Everyone believed the war would be over by winter.”

 

Meyer nodded, a sad smile under his mustache. “I remember thinking of how wrong it was, but I wondered if maybe this time it could be true.” Giving a sigh, Meyer smiled to Alice as he handed over the rolls. “I know you’re young, Lt. Malvin, and your heart is as hot as the mill. If something is wrong, don’t let that fire consume your judgement.”

 

Alice nodded, shaking Meyer’s hand before walking back to the street.

* * *

 

Randel sat numbly in the diner, staring down at his chocolate shake with whipped cream and cherry on top like it wasn’t even there. Cass looked over and shook her head. “Either you’re admiring the beauty of my work, or you’ve got something on your mind.”

 

Randel sighed. “I don’t know how I’m going to tell my lieutenant what’s happened to me.”

 

Cass nodded, walking out from behind the counter to Randel’s booth. “Yeah, personal stuff can be hard to talk about with the boss.”

 

“It’s more than that,” Randel said, turning to the window. “I don’t know what they’ll do when they know what I’ve done. Who I am, where I’m from, they don’t even know where I live.”

 

Cass blinked. “You never told them?” Randel shook his head. “Why not?”

 

“Because I was afraid of what they’d say.” Randel turned to look at Cass with exhausted eyes. “I don’t want them to know what kind of monster I am.”

 

Randel was taken aback when Cass laughed. “Sorry, sorry! That wasn’t at you, I mean it was but it wasn’t. I’m just saying, well, I don’t know many monsters who ask for a chocolate shake with a cherry on top.” Randel blinked, turning to look back at his shake. Still smiling, Cass settled into the seat across from Randel. “Hey, your team knows you’re not perfect right?” Randel nodded. “They still work with you though. I mean from what I saw everyone in that mountain gets into life and death situations after they take out the garbage in the morning.” She paused. “What I’m trying to say is, you’ve been with them right? I mean my nephews, they got into all kinds of trouble together, but whenever Hiro did something stupid it didn’t drive them apart.”

 

Randel nodded. “I know, I just don’t want it to change anything. What’s in me…” Randel sighed. “I’m only useful because of it.”

 

Cass blinked. “Wait, what? What do you mean?”

 

Randel looked up, hurting like a man who has only ever been to the darkest depths of his own heart could ever be. “I’m a soldier, and I hate pulling the trigger. I hate killing, I hate doing what I do, but I know it’s the only way I can help the people who cared about me.”

 

Cass smiled, setting a hand on Randel’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay big guy. No matter what happens, I’m sure that your team won’t abandon you. I mean have you ever abandoned them?”

 

Randel shook his head, but that didn’t change his expression as he went back to staring at his milkshake and now-melting whipped cream, stained red by the cherry.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

 

Riding up to the manor, Lucy felt a painful familiarity. The sprawling estate surrounded by well-manicured gardens was like where she had grown up; distant memories of her mother and the cold treatment of her father suddenly flooded into her mind.

 

“Not much, but it’s home,” Kurt said, leaping out of his car as Johan took his time opening the side door.

 

“Not much he says,” Oreldo grumbled, looking on at the sprawling house. “Wonder what the place would look like if they’d spent less money on the town.”

 

A rail-thin, gray haired butler stood at the door. “Good evening sirs, the dinner will be ready in ten minutes.”

 

“Thank you Gerard,” Johan said, handing his hat off to the man as he walked inside. “You can all freshen up if you need, Gerard will help you if you need anything.”

 

“Thank you sir,” Alice said, smiling politely as she followed Gerard to the nearest bathroom. A quick wash later, they were seated in a massive dining room circled with paintings from years past; the first mines and furnaces in the town to smelt iron, the first blast furnace, up to a painting of the town just before Alice realized was the outbreak of the war.

 

“Please, everyone sit,” Johan said as the teams arrived. “My brother and I aren’t as beholden to formalities as our father was.”

 

“We’re very thankful for your hospitality gentlemen,” Alice said, as several maids filled glasses for the teams. “Most of the places we’ve gone to in the course of our duties aren’t as welcoming.”

 

“Well the Army is our best customer,” Johan said, chuckling as the maids withdrew. “But we know how lucky we’ve been. The war still took many of the town’s men away; the cemetery is proof of that.”

 

“Our father did what he could to keep the company running through the worst times,” Kurt said. “When the Empire’s tank production was increased, well we know it wasn’t intentional, but the stress of it all was what really killed him.”

 

Alice nodded. “He still did a great service to the Empire. Without Hahn’s steel there wouldn’t have been any way for us to counter the Republic’s armored forces.”

 

“Well hopefully now we can focus on the peaceful,” Johan said, smiling as the maids brought out several small dishes and a bowl of bread. “Forgive us, we aren’t very big on the idea of great sprawling meals. There’s only the two of us and our staff after all.”

 

Lucy laughed. “After the trip we had, the fact you’re being so nice is enough.” Gray nodded, devouring the bread in front of him.

 

Erza looked over to Kurt. “Mr. Hahn, as our purpose is war relief I wanted to ask if the war affected anything else in the village.”

 

The two brothers stared at each other for a minute. “What do you mean?”

 

“The war must have still affected the town in a terrible way, even being far from the fighting like you mentioned.” Erza sipped at her water, staring down at the table. “Did anything happen during the war that affected the town as a whole? I’m not underscoring the idea of casualties affecting families, but did something happen to affect the entire town?”

 

Kurt shook his head. “No, no not that we ever noticed. Why do you ask?”

 

Erza shook her head. “I was just curious I suppose.”

 

Oreldo quickly spoke up. “So, everyone keeps mentioning how great Lt. Malvin’s ancestor was. What happened though?”

 

Johan’s smile beamed through the room as he got up, almost distracting Oreldo from seeing one of the maids flinch as Kurt reached over to grab the wine she was bringing over. “Back in the dark ages, Erdegeboren was just a few dozen huts and mines dug into the ground in the hills. Knights would bring their armor and shields to be forged anew, and for a time the people were content.”

 

“Then one day a bandit leader realized that if he took over Erdegeboren, he could take the gold the knights gave to the miners and rule as a lord instead of striking at travelers for a pittance in the forests.” Kurt poured himself a glass of wine as Johan walked around the table. “The knights knew that the bandits would take far too much, but they controlled the metal they needed. Contending with so many bandits across the Empire, they couldn’t risk attacking a town full of them.”

 

“Then the brave Sir Malvin rode to the town, realizing that someone needed to strike down the foe. No other knights would join him, but undaunted he rode out alone to the town.” Kurt took a sip of wine and nodded to a picture at the other of the room where his brother stood. “The knight saw the conditions the people lived under, of the bandits treating the people little better than animals.”

 

“Sir Malvin realized that the people could still fight, and under cover of darkness urged them to build pikes or take up their picks. In one night the town rallied, and led the villagers in the early morning against the bandit foes.” Johan pointed to the painting; a knight on foot in worn and rusting armor with scarred sword held aloft ahead of rank upon rank of tired, disheveled, and dirty miners wielding pikes and picks. In the foreground of the picture were ranks of wild bandits with their own swords, staring in shock at the uprising miners and the knight leading them.

 

“My grandfather told me his battle cry,” Alice said, looking up at the picture with sparkling eyes. “‘Fight for your land, your honor as men! Rescue your women and your own! Let no man who toils for his Emperor be enslaved!’” Alice scanned the portrait of the knight, his long blonde hair and beard almost glistening from how the artist had painted them. Like her, driven blue eyes glared down on the bandits: “Attack me!” they cried. “Face your end.”

 

Kurt raised his glass. “To the Malvin family,” he said, taking a drink. “May they always be there for Erdegeboren.”

 

Gerard walked in, bowing as he entered. “Dinner is ready, sirs.”

* * *

 

Lucy tried to focus on walking outside the manor, smiling as she tried to work through dinner. Thick slabs of steak, what she could safely call a trough of mashed potatoes, and more greens than she’d seen even in the woods around Magnolia. Stopping at a railing ringing the manor, she checked to see that no one was watching (Especially Alice) she pulled at her hair, letting it tumble free in the moonlight.

 

“Beautiful.” Freezing, Alice spun to her left to see Johan standing ten feet away. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Lt. Malvin.”

 

Lucy sighed. “That’s a relief. Sorry, but after a long day I just needed to let it down.”

 

“Well I’m glad I could be here to see it,” Johan said, walking up. “I just hope you don’t think I’m being too forward.”

 

Lucy laughed, looking up at the night sky. “Honestly it’s a change of pace for how my life usually goes. Most of the time I’m too busy running from something trying to kill me to have anyone talk to me like you have.”

 

Johan blinked. “For a unit focused on war relief? That’s surprising.”

 

Lucy winced. “Well we deal with a lot of bandits, criminals, just bad people who think they can get away with whatever they want.”

 

Johan nodded. “I see. Looks like the Malvin family will always been seeking the threats within the Empire. Still, I’m glad she understands what we’re doing here.”

 

Lucy turned back to Johan. “We really are thankful sir, your putting us up like this for the night is a relief.”

 

“Well I’ll admit, I was hoping to talk to you a little longer,” Johan said. “Running the business side of things hasn’t given me much of a chance to spend time looking for someone, well someone I’d like to know.”

 

Lucy blinked, then started to blush and steam up. “Y-y-you mean like a date?”

 

Johan smiled nervously, but even then it was in a way that Lucy was struck by. “I told you I was trying to not be too forward.”

 

Lucy shrugged. “Nothing wrong with being upfront with people.”

 

Oreldo’s voice drifted out of the house. “Heartfilia, you out here?”

 

Lucy yelped and quickly put her hair back up. “Sorry, gotta go!” Waving back at Johan, she went back inside to see Oreldo tapping his foot as he waited for her. “What’s going on?”

 

“Lieutenant wants to talk to all of us about today,” he said, motioning for Lucy to follow. The soldier had a lecherous grin on his face, side-eyeing Lucy as the walk walked through the manor. “So, Johan seems to have a fancy for you.”

 

Lucy laughed nervously, waving off Oreldo’s words. “What? Nah, no way! He’s a rich guy and I’m just wizard!” Lucy paused. “And there’s the whole dimensional thing too!”

 

Oreldo rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you know I honestly don’t think that’s the biggest problem around here.”

 

Lucy sighed. “I’m serious. I mean aren’t we gonna have to start worrying about that kind of stuff now? We still don’t know what we’re doing to the multiverse right? Maj. Carter mentioned that the Asgard are worried about the mirror, and what happened with that crazy Hekapoo lady.”

 

Oreldo thought for a second. “Is she a lady? I would’ve gone with demon from the description the lieutenant gave us.”

 

Lucy glared at the blonde warrant officer. “The point is, aren’t we supposed to start being more careful?”

 

“Well nothing’s happened so far,” Oreldo said. “If something does come up we face it when we find it.” Lucy was about to keep going when Oreldo stopped her. She heard it then, a quiet whimpering ahead of them around the corner in the hall. Motioning for Lucy to follow, Oreldo went gliding to the corner and peeked around.

 

Doing the same, Lucy saw two of the maids, one of them with her arms wrapped around herself as the other held her. The first maid was shuddering, trying desperately to bite back sobs and hold her tears as the other desperately tried to comfort the first. Ducking back and taking a breath, Oreldo was suddenly smiling and went to walk down the hall. The two maids froze with fearful expressions, but Oreldo waved at the two. “Hey ladies, quiet night?” The two maids blinked, saying nothing as Oreldo walked past. “Well we’ll see you tomorrow. Lucy, let’s go. Night ladies.” Lucy blinked, smiling apologetically to the pair before going along behind Oreldo.

 

Checking that no one was following them, Oreldo slipped into a room down the hall and locked the door behind Lucy. The young blonde wizard saw Alice reading a folder on a nightstand, Martis next to her; Gray lay down on the bed staring up at the ceiling; Erza stared out the window up at the half-moon that night. “Okay lieutenant, what’ve we got?”

 

“Going over the list of men who went away to the war,” Alice said, her voice solemn. “Thankfully these lists are properly maintained; casualties next to all names, deaths properly notarized, all here.”

 

Martis nodded. “How many?”

 

Alice shook her head. “Too many. A lot of these dates are toward the beginning of the war, when we didn’t realize what kind of weapons and tactics the Republic had. At least three-quarters of these names were either wounded or killed.”

 

Martis’ eyes narrowed. “Mr. Hahn said that at the end of the war, the town was in disrepair. If this casualty list is accurate, why does the town look so well maintained _and_ still keep the mill and mines running?”

 

Gray let out a groan. “Are you all serious? Maybe people moved to this town when they heard about all the jobs they could get here.”

 

Alice was about to say she agreed with that assessment when Erza spoke up. “No one working in those mines is here willingly.”

 

Everyone froze until Alice spoke up. “How can you be sure about that?”

 

“I saw the faces of the people working in the mill, when one of them got injured.” Erza turned back to the room. “They were exhausted, dirty, and most of all they were scared. Terrified. Like just being around us was a danger.”

 

“In danger?” Lucy looked up at Oreldo. “But what about those two maids?”

 

Oreldo leaned on a wardrobe and shook his head. “Well lieutenant, I think we found something a little more intense than black market suspicions going on.”

 

“Agreed.” Alice shut the folder and went to the window. “We’ll have to move quickly, the night won’t last long. Erza, whatever else you noticed you can tell us on the way.”

 

Erza nodded, throwing the window open and rushing out first.

* * *

 

Randel lay awake, staring at the ceiling of the room he’d been given. He couldn’t sleep, it was too much to process. He’d told Gen. Hammond everything, everything he could until the general had told him to get some sleep. He especially hadn’t liked the looks he’d seen going between Carter, Dr. Frasier, Mackenzie, and Mercy.

 

A knock at the door. “Corporal?” Mercy’s voice came through. “Can I talk to you for a moment?” Randel rose and went to the door, opening it to see the concerned face of Mercy staring up at him. “How are you feeling corporal?”

 

“Fine ma’am.” Backing up as Mercy walked in, Randel realized he didn’t quite understand the question. “I’m not hurting or anything.”

 

“I don’t mean physically corporal,” Mercy said, taking a seat in the room. “How are you feeling? I can only imagine what’s going through your mind right now.”

 

Randel blinked, taking a seat on his bed. “You…You are about how I feel?”

 

“Emotions play a major part in physical health,” Mercy said, giving Randel a smile. “How our minds process what’s happening to us in turn affects how our minds direct our bodies to recover from physical injury.”

 

“I never knew that,” he said, thinking about it for a second. “Is that why when you’re really sad, you feel like you don’t have any energy?”

 

“For extended periods of time, yes.” Mercy leaned forward to Randel. “It’s why I’m so concerned about what happened to you. You’ve clearly had a hard time during the war, and I fear that continued damage to your frontal lobe will only make matters worse if you stay with the MVTF.”

 

Randel blinked. “If?” Randel jumped up, his face suddenly filled with terror. “You wouldn’t really do that right ma’am? Section III, the lieutenant, they need me!”

 

“Corporal, you can’t help them if you get yourself killed,” Mercy said, her tone turning serious. “If you keep activating the device in your head, what will happen on the day you don’t turn it off?”

 

Randel shook his head. “But I always turn it off.”

 

“It isn’t good enough Randel,” Mercy said. It was a strange juxtaposition; her voice was firm but her eyes were pleading. “The human mind is a complex thing, and whatever has been done to yours has done things that we can’t even begin to try and figure out. Until we can figure out how to either safely remove it or negate the damage that could be done, you can’t use it.” Randel nodded, staring down at the floor again.

 

“Randel,” Mercy said, hesitant as she spoke. “The…people, that did this. Did they ever ask you how you felt?”

 

Randel shook his head. “No, they just did what they said they needed to do.”

 

Mercy sighed. “Not what was needed, Randel. What they wanted.” Mercy went to Randel and put a hand on his shoulder. “No one will ever treat you like that again.”

 

Randel looked up in surprise at that. “What?”

 

Mercy smiled. “You’re one of our teammates Randel. If we didn’t care about what happens to you, then we’d be just as guilt as the people who abused you. It’s getting late Randel, we all need to get some sleep; goodnight.”

 

As Mercy left the room, Randel was left staring ahead as he rolled the words over in his head. “If we didn’t care about you.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

 

It was nearly ten at night by the time the teams made it to the outskirts of the mill. “Are you sure Erza?”

 

“They were riding the empty cars,” Erza whispered as she and Alice observed the mill through the fencing. “But why though? And why would they ride the cars for the ore?”

 

“I have an idea,” Alice said, skirting the fence to the end where the rail cars were rolling out from the mill. “We need to get on one of those cars though.”

 

Lucy cringed. “Jump onto those things?” She stared at the rail cars, clanking across their rusting tracks with shudders and jerks every other foot. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

 

“No more dangerous than when the big guy jumps on a tank,” Oreldo said, hauling Lucy and Gray up as Erza, Alice, and Martis ran for the cars. Barely putting her feet under her, Lucy saw Erza and Alice leap up onto the cars, Martis hoping on the car behind them. “C’mon kids, better get moving.”

 

Lucy yelped, running along as Oreldo pushed them forward. There was no time to think, Lucy just grabbed on to the rumbling cars and held on to what he could. Her body shuddered with each section of track, and her hands felt like they were gripping the blade of a dull knife seconds after she started holding on. “Well, at least we haven’t destroyed anything yet, right Gray?”

 

Gray didn’t answer. Lucy started to turn her head to see why but stopped when she saw a gaunt dirty face staring in shock at her. Lucy smiled awkwardly; she didn’t want to wave and risk losing her grip as the car jumped again. “Uh, hi?” The man didn’t answer, he just kept staring. That was when Lucy realized there was an entire line of gaunt dirty faces running the entire length of the cars going to the mines. They were all men, and to Lucy’s eyes all of them looked haunted and frightened as their attention turned to the six people that had jumped aboard with them.

 

Turning, she saw Erza staring back at several of them with haunted eyes. She stared at them not like she was seeing people. It was more like she was looking at people from her past that she had no idea could possibly return. Each empty gaze, each gaunt face, it was enough to shake the hardened wizard.

 

Oreldo shuddered. “Boss, doesn’t this confirm it?”

 

“Not yet,” Alice said, glaring back at the mill.

 

Before Lucy realized it, the men on the other side of the rail car started to jump off the train. “Our stop,” Oreldo said. “Alright, jump down on three.”

 

Lucy stared at Oreldo. “Jump off a moving train?! What are you crazy!”

 

“It isn’t moving that fast and most of the track is on top of gravel,” Oreldo said, rolling his eyes at Lucy’s fear. “Just drop away from the car when I say three. One.” Lucy stared down at the gravel bed; even with all the hits she’d taken over her time with Fairy Tail, she knew that if any piece of her landed wrong she’d get caught under the wheels and leave a piece of herself behind in the Empire. “Two.” Lucy took a breath. “ _I’m a Fairy Tail wizard. This isn’t going to be any worse than anything else I’ve done._ ”

 

“Three!”

 

Lucy let go, pushing herself away enough to keep from falling under the train and rolling hard on the gravel. The rocks pushed and poked against her, but thankfully the thick fabric of the Army uniforms kept her from getting too scuffed up. Gray helped to haul her up, and as the cars rolled past Lucy froze as she saw what was behind her.

 

It was a mine, a massive gapping hole in the side of a hill that the men on the other side of the rails were moving to. Their clothes were still dirty, disheveled; their skin and tools were caked with soot and grease. Everyone was going back except for one older man with lean muscles that could only be gained by working instead of working out. Some went into the mine, others scattered about what Lucy realized was a small town of tents and scrap wood built next to the tracks. The man that remained was thin, clothes worn, with a bald head and a face traced with lines and an accent that Lucy had only heard from Lisowski with MV-4. “You’re the Empire’s Army?”

 

Alice nodded. “We are. You’re from the Eastern regions of the Nebulo Union.”

 

The man nodded. “Are you here to kill us?”

 

Lucy gasped, but Alice shook her head. “No, we’re here to find out what’s been happening. I’m Lt. Malvin.”

 

The man nodded. “Frederic. Come, it’s dinner for us.” Without acknowledging that there were people with Alice, Frederic walked into the shanty town as Alice followed.

 

The town was a shambles; Lucy was nearly overwhelmed with the stench that assaulted them all. All around they were bombarded by the smell of stale sweat and unwashed clothes. Rotting food was everywhere, festering in the huts or being cooked over small candles. Children wailed all around them, mingling with the moans of the hungry and injured. Women with haggard faces holding babies in their arms looked out from the huts with hungry, hurting eyes. One hut had a woman standing in front of it with her blouse unbuttoned down to her navel; it wouldn’t have been that abnormal for Lucy to have seen if it weren’t for the fact that her hair was matted, her skin covered in stretch marks, and she suddenly felt ill when she saw the scabbed-over sores on her mouth.

 

Gray shuddered, staring at a man laying on the ground with a missing leg and brown bandages covering the stump. “I don’t get it, what is all this? Why aren’t these people living in the town?”

 

“They aren’t allowed to,” Martis said, keeping a watch on the people. “They don’t live here. At least, they didn’t originally.”

 

“What?” Gray shook his head. “That makes no sense, what are you talking about?”

 

Alice looked to Fredrich, watching as the old man pulled out a small candle and a can of beans. “You came from the central nations, didn’t you.”

 

Fredrich nodded. “Fled in the face of the Republic, just before they took control of my home.”

 

“And you couldn’t find a legal way in.”

 

Gray spoke up again. “Well if he couldn’t find a way in legally, why is he here now! Someone needs to start explaining something to us, why are you acting like we know what’s going on!”

 

Oreldo shook his head. “Erza said it back at the manor. This isn’t something that should be shocking news to you guys, it happens in your dimension too.”

 

Lucy gasped. “Wait, you mean these people are slaves?”

 

Alice’s fists tightened. “Even centuries after the Empire explicitly outlawed it.” Taking a knee, Alice looked at Fredrich as the old man waited for his food to heat. “What happened?”

 

“What the war broke out, most of us fled. There were men, saying they could take us to the Empire.” Fredrich stirred his beans idly, acting as if he’d lived in squalor for most of his life. “The man I went with, he claimed he had jobs lined up. Hard, dangerous, but still jobs in the Empire. No one could turn him down, not if they wanted to escape the Republic.”

 

Alice nodded. “And when you got to Erdegeboren?”

 

Fredrich laughed. “That’s what it’s called for you.” Looking up with empty eyes Fredrich said, “We know it as Leidgeboren.”

 

Gray shook his head. “No way, Erza can tell us that this isn’t what happened to her.” Spinning around, Gray stopped when he realized Erza wasn’t there. “Hey, where’d she go?”

 

“Martis, take Gray and go find Erza.” Alice settled down across from Fredrich and took a long breath. “We’re going to figure out what’s happened here.”

* * *

Erza shuffled through the camp, staring in a dull shock at the sight in front of her. The only thing reminding her she hadn’t been sent back to her own hell was the sight of the stars overhead. The wailing children; the sick old men hunched over; one side of the camp reeked of waste, as one man went over and just dropped his pants to use a shallow trench not more than forty yards away. From the look on his face, he didn’t care that he was in plain view of everyone that could see him. They didn’t care either. Fighting back a retch, Erza turned away to see dirty faces with shallow cheeks staring back at her from behind a shack. The boys had no shirts, and what dresses the girls had were little more than old rags barely patched with scraps from other clothes.

 

The parents glared at her; fear or disgust, both were there as she stumbled through the camp. “ _This is impossible. This can’t be real. There’s no magic here, no darkness. Why are these people living like this?_ ”

 

“Erza!” Spinning back, Erza saw Gray and Martis coming for her. Gray froze as he went, seeing the trench and the children, but Martis kept walking. “Martis, what is this?”

 

“Victims of trafficking,” he said, checking Erza over. “Are you alright?”

 

Erza blinked. “Am…Am I?” Erza threw her hand out to the camp. “What about them, are they alright! We need to get these people help, we need to get them out of here!”

 

“We will, but first we need to figure out what’s been happening,” he said. “This won’t stop unless we stop the Hahns.”

 

Gray shook his head. “No, no they can’t be the ones that did this! They weren’t laughing mad or bragging about this, why would they hide this from us!”

 

Martis stared at Gray like he just heard the wizard claim that the human brain was a delicious appetizer. “Why would they do any of that?”

 

Erza looked to her right at the sound of a wailing child, leaving Martis and Gray behind for a second as she staggered toward the hut the wailing was coming from. It was a hut in further disrepair than the others, and that was saying something. It sat just outside where the others were, closer to the trench and reeking of waste to the point where Erza felt her stomach lurch several times.

 

A small torn sheet covered half of the entrance, but as Erza touched it to pull it away it came apart in her hands. Looking inside, Erza saw a woman laying on the floor, arms wrapped around a screaming child. There was only one problem.

 

The woman’s dead eyes staring at the opposite side of the hovel.

 

Erza started shaking, unable to stop as her body shuffled forward. She picked up the child without even realizing what she was doing. The baby futilely tried to cling to its mother, Erza’s eyes still locked on the body as the infant gripped onto her. Instinctively she pulled it close, turning it away from the body of the woman and walking out the door.

 

Gray and Martis were shouting about something, but both stopped as Erza came back out with the child. “It’s…The mother, she’s…” Erza struggled. Why were the words so difficult to find? “She must be hungry. We don’t know how long since she’s had food…”

 

Gray stared at the sight in shock, but when he looked to Martis he saw what almost looked like resignation. “We’ll bring the baby to one of the other mothers,” Martis said, walking over to Erza and guiding her along. “C’mon, we’ll find someone to help.” Erza nodded, looking down at the baby in her arms like she was still comprehending it was there at all. Gray followed behind, mind still processing why no one around them was even trying to ask what had happened.

* * *

 

“Brother?” Johan knocked on his brother’s door again. “Kurt, it’s urgent.”

 

Kurt opened the door, Johan noticing his pants were barely done up and his torso covered in sweat. “Yes, yes what is it?”

 

“Gerard just searched the house, they’re not here.”

 

Kurt blinked, and shook his head. “You really think she would?”

 

“She believes her family name, you know the stories that have gone around about Section III.” Johan sighed, leaning against the doorframe. “I was hoping Heartfilia would be someone I could be with too.”

 

Before Kurt could answer, there was a whimper from the room. Johan looked past his brother, saw the sight on the bed, and sighed. “Brother, we’ve already gone through four for the house in three months. Unless you’re willing to spend extra you need to be more concerned about their condition.”

 

Kurt blinked, then nodded. “Right, right of course. Very well, I’ll try to be more delicate. But you are working on getting some more right?”

 

“Of course,” Johan said, smiling again. “More important matters though, should we tell Berger to stand ready?”

 

Kurt nodded, his mind elsewhere and his eyes alight with excitement. “I would’ve liked to have used it another way, but yes, yes this would be a perfect chance to test out my design.”

 

Johan waved as he walked back down the hall. Smiling, Kurt shut the door as the whimpering picked up from his bed.

* * *

 

Alice nodded; her face was placid but her voice was quaking with rage. “And your numbers have dwindled since.”

 

“Working us to death saves them the trouble of feeding us any longer,” Fredrich said, slurping down the last of his lukewarm beans.

 

“Have any of you ever tried to escape?”

 

Fredrich shook his head. “Twice before, but they had no papers of money. They were found and returned by the police as vagrants. When they were released from the jail, they were snatched by the security guards and brought back.” Fredrich shrugged as he tossed the can to the side of his hut. “They were forced to work until death as punishment.”

 

Lucy had heard more than enough. Her eyes were starting to water, it was worse that Oreldo didn’t even seem to react to anything he had heard. Running from war, then being treated as slaves in a country they thought would save them?

 

“We’re going to get you out,” Alice said, standing up. “The Empire has strict laws against the maltreatment of workers, and you to be slaves is despicable. The Hahns will answer for what they’ve done.

 

Lucy just kept wiping at her eyes, trying to shut the sights of the camp out of her mind. “Why,” she whimpered. “Why would the Hahns do any of this?”

 

“I have an idea,” Alice said. “We need to take you all into town first, that way we can…”

 

There was a commotion outside, Fredrich looking up in surprise. He said something in a language Lucy didn’t understand, but before anyone could answer there it was; machine gun fire. Screams. A panicked surge rushing away. “What’s happening!?”

 

“Tank,” Oreldo shouted. “They made themselves a tank!”


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

* * *

 

Lucy had seen tanks before; PAC Type 32 vector tanks in the Mideast with 1st Platoon as well as seeing EU Tigers in action. They were sleek, swift, well-designed. She’d seen three destroyed by 1st Platoon, ambushing them and turning them into piles of scrap. Once there was a Tiger tank that had been disabled by a PAC mine. They crew had been forced to detonate the ammo stores, otherwise they risked it being captured.

 

What was rolling through the camp was not something she could even imagine calling a tank. It was a box, about the dimensions of a Humvee or O’Neill’s pickup truck. It was as tall as two men, with a turret on the top so small that compared to an EU Tiger Lucy thought it was a joke. There were six guns she could hear (“ _Oh man, I can tell how many guns there are when they fire._ ”); two on the front, two on the sides, one on the turret, and thought she couldn’t see it she could tell from the bodies in the distance there was one in the back. The front and sides even looked like they were made out of corrugated metal; the same material the huts and shacks around her were made of.

 

“A tank?” Martis ducked behind a shack as the refugees-turned-slaves rushed away. “How’d they get a tank?”

 

“That thing can’t be a tank,” Gray shouted. “Tanks don’t look like that, and where’s the main gun?”

 

Alice glared at the beast roaring through the camp. “They’re trying to kill anyone who can prove what they’ve done,” she growled. “Erza, your team can use your magic, take that tank out!”

 

Erza instantly requipped into an armor Lucy had never seen before: Navy blue fabric only enough to cover her chest and upper thighs with a massive gap for her bust; gold trim and two pauldrons on her shoulders of roaring lions; a gold halberd clutched in her right hand, and around her head a white cloth that almost looked like a halo. Erza jumped forward, ready to strike-

 

The machine guns had kept firing, and as Erza took her third step she cried out in pain and collapsed. Still flat on the ground, Lucy saw that Erza’s left leg had a red hole spreading across it. Erza kept screaming out, clutching at it where she lay.

 

“Ice make wall!” The ice appeared in front of Erza, and shaking the wizard tried to pull herself up. Oreldo sprinted over, hoisting her up and helping her limp away to better cover. They managed to barely pull themselves behind a hut when the tank collapsed the ice wall.

 

Alice’s face was set despite the chaos around her. “Erza, recall now!”

 

Erza tried to shake her head. “No, I can’t leave-”

 

“I don’t want to hear it,” Alice roared, her voice suddenly unlike anything Lucy had heard from the diminutive blonde lieutenant before. “You’re wounded, get back to the SGC now!” A flash later, and Alice turned to Gray. “Try to wall the tank in, buy us some time.”

 

“Ice make walls!”

 

Four ice walls sprung up around the tank; the guns stopped for a second as the men inside were undoubtedly trying to figure out what was happening. “There, that should hold them back for a while-” Gray was cut off by rifle fire from the direction of the mill, and spinning around he saw two dozen guards rushing after him. “Are you kidding me?”

 

“Everyone scatter, we need to protect the civilians.” Alice looked to Lucy. “Summon a spirit that you know will be useful right now.”

 

Lucy nodded, still trying to shake off Erza crying out in pain. “Open, gate of the Bull! Taurus!”

 

The massive bull appeared, grinning at the guards. The rifle fire tapered off, the men staring at the sight in front of them. “Don’t worry Ms. Lucy, I’ll make sure these guys _mooooooove_ outta your-” The rifle fire came on again, and suddenly three red holes appeared on his chest. Letting out a howling moo, the muscular cow-man spirit put his axe in front of his body as he collapsed to the ground. “Ms. Lucy…I’m feeling real hurt right now.”

 

Lucy cringed, eyes locked on the bullet wounds on her friend's chest. “Go back Taurus, go back now!”

 

As Taurus disappeared and the rifles kept firing, Alice heard something that made it clear they had no control anymore; one of the machine guns was firing again. Looking back, she saw that Gray’s ice only went up so high, and the turret atop the tank was firing. Worse, the tank was moving back and forth; the ice was starting to break.

 

Martis slid in next to Alice behind her cover. “Lieutenant, the wizards are looking a lot less impressive than we thought.”

 

“They’re used to having more backup, and better weapons than ours,” Alice said, glaring at Martis' puny bolt-action rifle. “We need to come up with another way to take out the tank. What other spirits does Lucy have?”

 

The ice shuddered, a large hunk falling to the ground and opening up room for the two front machine guns to open up again. “She has Virgo, she could send her under the tank and cave the ground in from under it.”

 

Alice nodded, rolling around to see Lucy cowering and shaking. “Lucy, you need to summon Virgo!”

 

Lucy shook her head. “No, I can’t risk any of my spirits getting hurt! This never happened back with 1st Platoon!”

 

Alice glared at Lucy. “You need to! Virgo can cave in the mines under the tank!”

 

Lucy started to move, but the tank burst out of the ice wall. It was slow and ungainly, but clear of the ice it had all machine guns open up. More screams sounded; some kept calling out as others were cut off or turned into howls of pain. Lucy cowered behind her concealment, flinching every time a round tore through the wood she hid behind.

 

“Right when we need the big guy,” Oreldo groaned. “Gray, give me some ice and I’ll get Lucy.” Gray nodded, putting up another ice barrier that gave Oreldo enough cover to run to Lucy as Martis rolled to the edge of his cover and started firing at the security guards that were on foot.

 

Lucy was curled up in a ball, eyes shut tight. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to be,” she kept saying. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to happen!”

 

“Yeah, welcome to Crazy, population us.” Watching as the tank rolled forward, Oreldo noticed it stop in front of a larger rocky outcrop. After a ponderous turn, it went right and went back to hunting down the slaves. “Hey Martis, are tanks supposed to stop when they turn?”

 

Martis shook his head, still firing back at the guards. “No, modern tanks can turn and keep moving without stopping, but it won’t matter because of how the machine guns are positions on it. Either we get under it or we retreat to the SGC.”

 

“There’s no retreating from this,” Alice shouted. “Oreldo, Gray, stop those other guards. Lucy, you need to come with Martis and I.” Standing up, Alice went to follow the tank through the shanty town as Martis gently pulled Lucy up.

* * *

 

Dr. Frasier appraised Erza in the SGC infirmary; the wound had gone straight through and thankfully hadn’t carried anything in with it, but it had still done enough damage that she was worried about the femoral artery. “I need another unit of blood here, I don’t want her bleeding out!”

 

Mercy’s hands were already bloody; she’d made a full sprint to the gate room when Erza had come in, and right now was busy monitoring Erza’s vitals. “Pulse and heart rate still elevated within expected range. Erza, are you sure you don’t want any anesthetic?”

 

Erza groaned as she shook her head. “I won’t let a little pain get to me, I don’t need it.”

 

“It’s not a little pain, it’s a bullet wound,” Dr. Frasier barked. “What about the others, was there anyone else wounded?”

 

Erza shook her head; Mercy was starting to get worried that any more force on her jaw would break her teeth. “Just me, everyone else is still there.

 

“Alright, just need a little longer Erza and we’ll have this taken care of.” Taking one last check to make sure there was nothing on the surface of the wound, Dr. Frasier packed gauze onto the entry and exit wounds (Noticing Erza staring in shock at the blown out remains of the opposite side of her wounded leg; imagine if the bullet had tumbled) and started wrapping the leg in gauze. “What were they up against Erza?”

 

“A tank,” Erza whispered. “But it wasn’t like any tank I’ve seen. It was blocky, and only had machine guns on it. I tried to rush it-”

 

Mercy blinked. “You tried to rush a tank?”

 

Erza nodded. “We’d seen 1st Platoon take them out before.”

 

Mercy bit back a harsh reply, Erza didn’t need any more stress in her current state. “Very well. Dr. Frasier, the wound?”

 

Frasier moved aside to let an orderly attach a new bag of blood to Erza’s IV stand. “Packed and wrapped, we’ll send her to the hospital for X-Ray and further work. Stepping away from the bed, Frasier watched as a set of orderlies and two airmen escorted Erza to the elevators. With the wizard safely out of earshot, Frasier ripped off her bloodstained gloves. “She tried to rush a tank?!”

 

“I think she underestimated how dangerous a tank is after seeing the weapons and tactics 1st Platoon would use,” Mercy sighed and went to the nearest sink. “We need to talk to the SGC about setting up a training program to help the other teams understand what is and isn’t appropriate for certain threats.”

 

Frasier nodded. “If no one comes in after about two hours I’ll go to the hospital and keep an eye on Erza. You?”

 

“I’ll stay here, there might be additional wounded if they aren’t careful.”

 

Frasier gave a smile. “Alright. I’ll get started on the report for Gen. Hammond, he’ll want to know about this.” Scrubbing off, Frasier went to her office and left Mercy alone in the infirmary.

 

Sighing, Mercy looked back at the bloodstained floor now being mopped by an airman. Even if Erza was only wounded, the fact was that she’d still tried to rush a tank with machine guns going off. If this is what she was going to be dealing with, she’d need to prepare herself for worse than bullet wounds. That was something that put a heavy weight on her heart.

 

“Dr. Zeigler?” Looking back as she washed, she saw Randel looking in from the door. “Is everything okay? I heard about wounded being brought back from the mission.”

 

Mercy quickly put on a smile of her own. “It’s a wound I’ve treated many times already Randel, it will be fine as long as the staff at the hospital don’t make any simple mistakes.” Randel nodded, but worry was still etched on his face. She wasn’t Sunset, but Mercy knew what Randel was thinking. “You think you should have been there.”

 

Randel nodded. “I’m supposed to be there for Section III, for the lieutenant. The first time I wasn’t and there’s a tank around and this happens.”

 

“Lt. Malvin is a capable leader, and more importantly MV-1 knows what they’re facing now.” Mercy’s voice was a little sterner, but she made sure to keep her expression soft for Randel’s sake. “You need to learn that focusing on yourself isn’t a crime.”

 

Randel’s half-hearted nod didn’t make Mercy feel any better.

* * *

 

Rounds kept crashing against Gray’s ice; trying to make them slip only convinced anyone still standing to fire on him, and trying to cage them only forced them to break each other out with their rifle butts. It was all he could do to make an ice wall that he, Oreldo, and several slaves could hide behind. “What do we do now?”

 

Oreldo leaned around the ice wall and fired. “Well seeing as they’re trying to kill us, maybe do the same?”

 

Gray’s face twisted up uncomfortably. “You’re sure?”

 

Oreldo rolled his eyes. “What is it with you guys and not getting it? They’re trying to kill you, you need to do the same they you live. Didn’t you guys spend a few weeks with MV-4? What’d you learn from them?”

 

Oreldo took a long breath. “That sometimes you have to fight back. Alright, I’ll do it.” Leaning around the wall Gray shouted out, “Ice make spears!”

 

Oreldo watched as in a split second five of the guards were run through; two through the chest, one through the stomach, one through the upper thigh and the last through his right shoulder. “See that? You don’t surrender that’ll happen to the rest of you!”

 

The rifle fire had stopped, and seconds later the remaining guards threw their guns away and stepped forward. Oreldo nodded, keeping his guns on them as they came forward. “Okay Gray, destroy those icicles and get to the wounded.” Silence. “Gray?”

 

Gray was staring at the men who’d been run through, ignoring the screaming from the ones that were "just" wounded. Blood trickled down the spears, shock frozen on the faces of the two dead men. Part of Gray thought it was even comical, the shocked expressions on their faces as the ice melted in their cooling bodies. The one that had gotten the spear through his stomach was still alive, but wasn’t screaming as loud as the other two. He was only barely struggling to pull himself free, a numb acceptance telling Gray that he only knew there was something in his body that wasn’t supposed to be there and it needed to come out. Even as the machine guns on the tank kept chattering in the distance, Gray was locked on the man trying vainly to pull the spear out of his chest.

 

“Gray?” Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Gray spun around to see Oreldo with his rifle trained on the remaining guards. “Put a cage around’em. Get the other two off their spears and make sure you leave the spears in their wounds, they won’t bleed out that way.”

 

Gray turned to the man still trying to pull himself off. “What about…”

 

Oreldo sighed, and put his weapon to the man’s head. “Time to learn a hard lesson about mercy kid.”

* * *

 

Alice watched as the tank patrolled the rest of the shanties, firing bursts every few seconds when the crew inside thought they saw a target. “Lucy, you need to summon Virgo, otherwise they’ll kill even more people.”

 

Lucy still had tears running down her face. “Why? Why are they trying to kill them all? It doesn’t make any sense.”

 

“They’re trying to get rid of the witnesses,” Martis said, as if he was telling Lucy the local news. “If there’s no one to testify about what’s happened here, then on one can punish the Hahns for what they’ve done.”

 

Lucy cringed as there was another scream cut off by another burst of gunfire. “What do you need Virgo to do?”

 

“You need to get her to cave in the ground under the tank, deep enough that none of the guns can fire out of it.” Alice saw the turret facing away from where they were behind a collapsed shack. “Do it now, you’ll only have seconds to do it before they notice us.”

 

Lucy nodded, steeling herself and raising her key. “Open, gate of the Maiden! Virgo!” The flash blinded Lucy for a second, but clearing away the stars she saw the turret coming around as the machine gun on the rear and right side turned up. “Virgo, cave in the ground under the tank, make it so the guns can’t fire!”

 

“Right away mistress.” One second the maid was there, the next she vanished into the dirt. Lucy kept low, hugging the ground as the machine guns opened up again. She flinched, hearing the ground rip up around her; were they toying with their targets? Or just such bad shots that they needed to use that many rounds to stop them. One round struck the dirt just next to Lucy’s head, and she whimpered. “ _Please, just make it stop._ ”

 

The ground rumbled, and suddenly the machine guns stopped. There was a groan and shuddering, but after a few seconds Virgo said, “I’ve done as ordered mistress.” Looking up, the tank was gone, replaced by a dusty square. Alice and Martis were already up and running for the spot, Lucy reaching out to Virgo to stand; her legs were shaking too much to do it herself.

 

Shuffling over. Lucy noticed that the surviving slaves were all coming over to look as well. The ground had caved in perfectly under the tank; too high and tight to drive out of, and the tank too slow to turn in time to put any more guns on them. The barrel on the turret had been bent upwards; it had been turned over the edge of the side of the tank when Virgo had collapsed the ground. The hatch above it opened, and out crawled a hacking Mr. Berger.

 

Alice pointed her dagger down at the man. “Mr. Berger, you and your men are under arrest for conspiring to smuggle and enslave men and women.”

 

Berger hacked some more, wiping off a bloody lip. “Damn officers,” he growled, glaring up at Alice with wild eyes he hadn’t had back in the mill. “What more do you want to take from me?” Lucy knew that Berger’s hand was going for his holster, but she was still getting over nearly being shot and couldn't react. That was when she noticed Alice was already moving, her blade flashing in the moonlight. The pistol had barely cleared his holster when Alice sent it flying away with a sweep of her blade, blood spraying out as Berger let out a yell of pain and rage.

 

“You’re defeated,” Alice said, glaring down on Berger. “Stand down and get out of the tank.”

 

Berger grunted, clutching as his hand as he started to laugh. “You really think this changes anything?”

 

Alice glared down at the man, the moans of the wounded and cries of the mourning echoing around her. “It changes things for them.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

Johan let out a breath as Kurt pulled up to the curb outside the Hahn offices. “I think those chickens are going to file a complaint.”

 

“I didn’t hit any of them,” Kurt pointed out, smiling as he jumped from the driver’s seat. “If anything, I taught them a valuable lesson about avoiding the road.”

 

Johan shook his head as they walked through the doors. “They’re chickens, they only know when they get fed and when they lay eggs. You’ve not going to teach them to avoid roads by nearly running them down.”

 

Kurt rolled his eyes as the two boarded the nearest elevator. “You just want to drive my car.”

 

“I would probably drive it far more safely than you,” Johan said, laughing as they sped up to the top floor. “I’m not the one who did damage to that farmer’s stone wall.”

 

Kurt feigned offense. “How dare-” He stopped, seeing the concerned faces on their secretaries. “Uh, is everything alright ladies?” Neither one answered, they both just turned to the conference room door. Giving each other a confused glance, the brothers strode forward and into the conference room.

 

The first thing they saw was Alice sitting at the head of the table, glaring at both of them with a book opened in front of her. Four of her soldiers flanked her; the redheaded one was missing, but that wasn’t the biggest problem. Mayor Meyer sat to Alice’s left, his face dark considering the early hour. “Good morning gentlemen.”

 

“Good morning lieutenant,” Johan said, his smile faltering a little as he motioned for Kurt to sit down with him at the far end of the table. “We were concerned when you weren’t in your rooms this morning, we had thought you’d left without breakfast.”

 

Meyer shook his head. “Save it, Johan, they know everything.”

 

Johan shook his head. “Everything? Everything about what?”

 

“Smuggling people and then treating them as slaves is against direct Imperial edicts along with several treaties signed with the Nebulo Union.” Alice looked at the two like she was channeling Erza; her eyes were focused, her expression stone, she wasn’t going to give them a prayer. “I asked Mayor Meyer for the enlistment rolls, the Empire would update them as soon as possible. Three years is enough time for a relatively complete list to be compiled.” Alice threw the book open on the table. “The early years of the war saw a groundswell of national support for enlistment, and everyone thought that of course it would be over before the winter. It’s why early casualty numbers were so high.” Alice glared at the two. “A mine and mill would only suffer a short drop in production before posting even greater numbers after a victorious war against the Republic.”

 

Johan kept his composure as Alice started to get heated, her voice starting to quake with anger. “You knew how many were displaced from the border nations, you knew that they were desperate for work to try and save themselves from destitution. You engineered it so your mill would carry on working as long as you needed it to, until you could rebuild your workforce and ensure that your profits wouldn’t drop in the interim.”

 

Johan shook his head, glaring down at the table. “Our father always drilled into us from a young age that we were responsible for more than our company. Our family has been a part of this town for over two centuries. When the first casualty reports came back, we realized that something had to be done to keep Erdegeboren from turning into another casualty of the war.”

 

Alice’s fist tightened. “You’re saying you did this for good reasons?”

 

“What else could we have done,” Kurt argued. “Without the mill and mine, there would be no taxes for the town to collect. Worse, our money would have dried up eventually. The only reason the town weathered the war and up to this point is because we kept the mill and mine alive.”

 

Alice shook her head. “Even the capital made sacrifices during the war. The Emperor’s own household lost members in service. Erdegeboren was no different from any other town.”

 

“It is when it produces the steel for the tanks,” Kurt argued. “We only have one production facility left, and our steel is what keeps it running. You must see that-”

 

“And then to try and not only commit murder to cover it up, but to try and kill my team as well.” Alice was up out of her seat now, glaring at the Hahns with fury in her eyes and conviction in her voice. “If this was a desperate need, you could have argued it to us instead of simply trying to kill us. Especially since you built a tank of your own to safeguard this secret of yours!”

 

“Build a tank?” Meyer turned to the brothers, surprised. “You built a tank?”

 

Kurt nodded. “Well when the war was in it’s last year my brother and I realized that perhaps a lighter tank made out of civilian tractor parts might actually be a more economic alternative to the purpose-built tanks; each town could quickly form a unit of tankers and use them to act as a unit to support the regular army.”

 

Lucy watched it all and couldn’t believe it. The brothers were giving excuses? Trying to justify what she saw last night? With the same polite tones and clean-shaven faces? She desperately wished they would slip up, that they would stop talking about what they had done as if it were like getting caught sneaking desert before dinner.

 

Meyer finally spoke up. “Enough from both of you,” he growled, finally catching the brothers off-guard. “They have Berger in custody, he tried to kill them last night! He admitted it in fact, and said you both ordered it.” The brothers both stared at Meyer, Johan finally at a lost for smooth words as Meyer turned to Alice. “I assure you Lt. Malvin, I’ll see that they both are prosecuted to the maximum extent allowed.”

 

“How can you,” Alice said; her quiet tone did nothing to make her seem less angry. “You’ll be put on trial the second they’re sentenced.”

 

Meyer froze. “Lieutenant, what are you talking about? The Hahns are the reason for the suffering of those people, why are you talking about putting me on trial?”

 

“You had access to the casualty rolls first,” Alice said, turning her glare on Meyer. “You knew how many men weren’t coming back, or weren’t able to work again. So you knew that despite everything the mine and mill were still working just as well as they were before the war started. You knew that they were bringing these people in.”

 

Meyer started to back away from Alice, eyes narrowing at the young lieutenant. “You’d really launch an investigation? They’ll shutter the mill, close the mines until they figure out what to do next! It’ll take years before any meaningful production can resume if you have this prosecuted!”

 

Alice glared at the man. “You’re a member of the Order of the Boar, you’re supposed to defend your home from the evils of the world instead of help them to carry on what they do.”

 

Meyer glared back at Alice, laying an accusatory finger in her direction. “You want to moralize? Tell us what’s evil and good for our town? How dare you, you mewling child. Do you even know the truth of why your ancestor came here?”

 

Oreldo and Martis tensed up as Meyer glared at Alice from the other end of the table. “Sir Malvin was only came here because he needed new armor and weapons, he was never sent here to stop them. They even offered him a bribe to look the other way; he’d get his armor and tell the emperor that everything in Erdegeboren was still fine.” Meyer started to approach Alice, his eyes sharp as he kept going at her. “The only reason he went after them was because they didn’t offer enough! And Erdegeboren is still the one region that the Empire relies on for armor and weapons. If the Hahns brought in ten thousand slaves and wastrels from across the world I wouldn’t care. The Army only values us for our steel, and whatever we need to do to get them what they want is why they’ll treat your report as trash!” Lucy shuddered, the calm and kindly old man that she’d met before was gone, replaced by a cold, cynical monster. She wanted to ask Alice what they would do, but she saw Alice not even flinch.

 

“Berger is already in jail,” Alice shouted. “And your police didn’t seem to have any idea what was happening. When we showed them some of the victims they were horrified.” Meyer’s face drained of color. “The money the Hahns used to help the town was nothing but bribery, blood money that you could tell yourself was a justification to allow what they were doing to carry on! Then when the town’s population had come back, you were all willing to let those people die rather than send them away and risk the truth getting out!”

 

Meyer glared back at Alice; the Hahns seemed to shrink away from his as he stormed forward. “So you’re fine with throwing one of the few regions of the Empire not broken by the war into turmoil? Because it’s the right thing to do? Our people are fed, our streets are clean! Tell me why I shouldn’t have every one of you here killed!”

 

Alice glared at Kurt. “Why did you need the maids in your house for, Mr. Hahn?” Kurt blinked; Lucy realized he was genuinely confused at being singled out. “We talked to them before you woke up this morning. We heard what they had to go through.” Lucy shuddered; the things the women described made her skin crawl just remembering them. “You threatened to send them back to their camp if they didn’t comply, or threatened to have their families thrown out of work to starve.”

 

Kurt looked to his brother and Meyer, but both of them glared down at him as Alice kicked into high-gear. “You had enough men and families to keep the mine and mill running, but you weren’t satisfied with just forcing them to work in your company just to barely stay alive. The maids weren’t helping the town survive, they were just your own playthings, nothing more than another thing to play around with behind a closed door!”

 

Johan stepped in front of his brother. “That’s enough lieutenant! I won’t have you coming after my brother with scandalous remarks like these! If you want to speak to us any further I’m afraid we’ll have to ask you to speak with our solicitor.”

 

“Wrong,” Alice shouted, holding her dagger at the men. “In accordance with Imperial war relief statutes, I am placing this company under the direct control of the Army. You three will be held in confinement until suitable determination is made on who knew what and when.”

 

Meyer gaped at Alice, starting to shake. “You’re just a lieutenant, you can’t-”

 

“Even without the authority of my rank, I am still a member of the Malvin family as well. How would your townspeople react to my revealing to them of what was done in their name? How many of them even knew?”

 

Kurt kept looking around in confusion as Johan spoke up. “But you’re going to destroy the town! Things will get worse, people will lose jobs, livelihoods! Lt. Malvin, please, think about what you’re doing!”

 

“I am,” Alice said, sheathing her dagger again. “I just have one final question. How did you convince the people to come here?”

 

Kurt finally spoke up. “There were men, they convinced the people to come here.” Lucy’s heart froze. A memory long ago came surging back; a boat, drugged wine, her first meeting with Natsu. “I don’t understand, it was just what needed to be done.”

 

Lucy fell back into the wall behind her. Kurt literally didn’t see why what they had done was not only wrong, but a crime. Meyer was busy glaring at all of them, impotent rage seething behind his eyes. The worst was Johan; Lucy could see everything she’d expect someone who’d do such a thing in his face, his expression pained as he turned away. The only thing that was missing was the most important; there was no remorse in his eyes.

 

“None of you cared about them,” Lucy finally said. “None of you cared that you were hurting people?” Alice snapped back from her indignation as Lucy started to quake. “You were just going to work them to death? Use them as you wanted? Why couldn’t they become part of the town? Why couldn’t they live with everyone else?” Lucy’s eyes started to water as she glared at Johan. “Look at me! Was it all just an act? Did you really care about the town, or did you just want cheap labor to work for you until they died! Can’t you even answer me?” She started to tear up as she started to shudder. “What would you have done to me if I’d found out?”

 

Lucy never got an answer to any of her questions. The rest of the day she spent watching as the town’s police, and later Army soldiers, cordon off the Hahn offices. She vaguely remembered hearing that more were closing the mine and mill, but she didn’t care. She was content to just sit in the auto and watch as Meyer and the Hahns were led away, a crowd of confused townspeople gathered around asking what was happening.

* * *

 

Two days later, Erza was smiling as Oreldo finished recounting the last few steps of the mission in her hospital room in Colorado Springs. “So, the people are all getting the help they need?”

 

“Yeah, the townspeople really stepped up.”

 

Erza idly ran a hand on the bandages covering her left leg. “And the child I found?”

 

“He survived,” Oreldo said, leaning back in his own chair. “The families in the town are helping the survivors find a new path in life.” Oreldo’s expression soured slightly. “The problem now is that the mine and mill are closed down, everyone who know what they were doing knew about the crimes too. They’re dismantling the system Kurt Hahn set up too, saying that they can’t effectively judge the effectiveness now that they know how the whole mess was involved in criminal actions.”

 

“So the town will wind up going through troubles after all,” Erza said, staring down at her wound. “Did we really do the right thing?”

 

Oreldo shook his head. “They were gonna kill those people anyway; work them to death or kill them with that little ‘tank’ the Hahns had made. What matters is we managed to stop them before it could happen.”

 

Erza nodded, looking back up at Oreldo. “What about your suspicions of illegal sales?”

 

Oreldo shook his head. “If there was any, it’s gonna take some doing to find out when it happened. The Hahn files stretch back years, and they’re detailed with loads of small stuff. If there’s anything there, it’ll take time for the financial records to be gone over. When we asked Fredrich and the other mill workers they only said they made the steel.”

 

“So anything after was out of their control.” Erza stared out the window. “Still, those people are free now. We did do right in the end. Still, it is surprising that they made their own tank.”

 

“Well the surprise wore off pretty quick,” Oreldo said. “They ordered the tank to be destroyed.”

 

“Destroyed?” Erza sat up a little. “The way Lt. Malvin talks about the Empire I would’ve thought they would want to keep an example of a tank someone made out of a civilian machine.”

 

Oreldo shook his head. “If word got out that anyone with the means could make their own tank, well who knows what would happen. As far as the Army is concerned, the Hahns were just traffickers and potential black marketeers.”

 

Erza settled back down into her bed. “Sometimes it feels like Lt. Malvin is the only one in the Empire willing to see a new way of doings things from what I keep learning. At least, the only one who wants to do it for the good of the Empire.”

 

Oreldo shrugged. “Personally I’m surprised at what happened with you three. I thought you’d faced better tanks than that with Capt. Campbell’s platoon.”

 

“Only from a distance, and only in situations we controlled,” Erza said, her fist clenched in anger. “I swear, the next time this happens we will be ready.”

 

Oreldo shrugged. “You say so. Any word on the leg?”

 

Erza nodded. “The doctors said that the bone was undamaged, only a few weeks before I’m back in fighting shape. Hopefully Porlyusca can slice that in half.” The wizard gave a grin at that. “I can’t let everyone else have all the fun.”

 

Oreldo facepalmed. “Seriously, what is it with you magic guys and seeing this stuff as fun?”

* * *

 

Gen. Hammond read over the report in his office, Alice sitting across from him as she patiently waited for him to finish. “Certainly not a perfect operation, I’ll need to confer with Master Makarov and all team leaders about a possible training program to train our people to prepare for any threats they’re likely to encounter in the universes each team comes from.” Setting the report down, he gave a smile to Alice. “Still, you accomplished the mission without any casualties on your team. An excellent job.”

 

Alice, ramrod straight in her seat in a welcome change from Col. O’Neill, nodded as she kept her expression flat. “Thank you, sir.”

 

“As for Cpl. Oland,” Gen. Hammond said, his expression turning dour. “We’re still waiting for a response from the Asgard, but if they do offer their help you need to accept that operations like this can’t be handled on your own. Added on to that, Cpl. Oland’s living situation is concerning. Why wasn’t he staying in any enlisted quarters or barracks?”

 

Alice didn’t flinch, her expression still the same. “I believed that Cpl. Oland was more than capable of maintaining his own decent standard of living sir. It was my mistake and I will ensure that the right steps are taken to correct this problem.”

 

“Correcting it isn’t the issue,” Gen. Hammond said. “Why didn’t you ever ask? A leader’s job is to take care of their subordinates lieutenant, on and off the battlefield. If you don’t then you risk becoming like those brothers you just dealt with.” The words struck Alice hard, but before she could fully process a bright light filled the office; a small gray being with a bulbous head and large black eyes stood next to Gen. Hammond’s desk. Alice instinctively reached for her blade, but Gen. Hammond held her wrist. “Thor, pleasure to have you here.”

 

“Greetings Gen. Hammond,” Thor said, nodding. “I believe this is Lt. Alice Malvin, correct?”

 

Alice nodded, quickly taking a breath as she realized this was a being from another world; another intelligent form of life. She instantly snapped to attention. “Yes sir. Thank you for coming so quickly.”

 

“I am afraid you will not appreciate my answer then,” Thor said, looking down from Alice. “I have spoken to the Asgard High Council regarding possible assistance for the MVTF regarding medical matters, but their decision is resolute. They want no involvement at all with any multiversal actions.”

 

Gen. Hammond sighed. “This man is in a desperate situation sir, it may save his life.”

 

“Be that as it may, the High Council fear that interacting with any entity from the multiverse in such a manor would result in unintended and dangerous consequences for the Asgard.” Thor sighed and turned to Alice. “I can tell you, lieutenant, that Cpl. Oland’s augmentation is dangerous when activated. For him to continue usage in any situation will only destroy his mind. Regardless of the situation, he must not be allowed to use that device.”

 

Alice nodded, a bit too quickly for Gen. Hammond’s comfort. “Thank you, Cmdr. Thor. I’ll order Cpl. Oland to cease use of the lantern immediately.”

 

“And we’ll get to work on figuring out how to remove it.” Gen. Hammond nodded to Thor. “I am thankful for your responding sir.”

 

“There is a matter that concerns the Asgard Gen. Hammond, one that I may need the aid of SG-1 for.” Thor nodded to Gen. Hammond. “If we do not need it, then I will endeavor to return for what O’Neill would most certainly consider the best reason.”

 

Gen. Hammond chuckled. “No reason at all. Understood, sir. Thank you.”

 

Thor vanished, Gen. Hammond turning back to Alice. The girl’s eyes were wide, but she was still sitting ramrod straight and now looking back at Gen. Hammond with a blank expression. “Get some rest, lieutenant. Your team has earned it.” Alice gave a sharp salute and walked out, leaving Gen. Hammond to go over again what Kurt Hahn was doing with a heavy heart. “Actually lieutenant, one small thing.” Alice paused in the doorway. “The Hahns and Meyer mentioned your ancestor’s past. Out of curiosity, why didn’t that affect you?”

 

Alice smiled. “Back when the knights rode the land they needed to supply their own equipment and weapons. It wasn’t at all unusual for a traveling knight to demand replacements and repairs.”

 

Gen. Hammond nodded. “So you accept that your family tree isn’t perfect then.”

 

“Back then sir,” Alice said. “The Army may have descended from the knights and orders, but now we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard. My ancestors had to do what was necessary, but I don’t.”

 

Gen. Hammond smiled up from his desk at Alice. “Understood lieutenant. Dismissed.” As Alice snapped to attention before walking on her way, he thought about MV-9 for a moment, then pulled up his word processor and started a new draft.

* * *

 

“So I can’t ever use the lantern?”

 

Mercy nodded, watching as the lantern was disassembled before the both of them. “Lt. Malvin was clear; destroy it so that it can never be used again.”

 

Randel was quaking slightly. “But…But what will I do if I need it?”

 

Mercy looked Randel dead in the face. “Lt. Malvin was clear once she explained the situation the Asgard relayed to her, Maj. Carter has already taken it apart to ensure there is nothing anomalous in the design.” Randel turned away, eyes blank as he seemed to process what Mercy had just said. “She also stated that she wants you to continue sessions with Col. Mackenzie whenever you return to the SGC, to monitor for any possible complications.”

 

Randel heard it, but he couldn’t acknowledge it. Suddenly there was nothing he could do to protect Lt. Malvin, nothing he could use to stop her from being hurt. Staring down at his hands, he idly realized his mind was completely blank.

 

“Randel?” Snapping back to reality, Randel realized Mercy was smiling softly at him, hand on his. “It’s alright, we aren’t going to abandon you. We will help you find a way through this.”

 

Randel shook his head. “But, if I can’t use my lantern…”

 

Mercy smiled. “That lantern isn’t who you are, you decide that.”

 

“Doctor?” Randel looked up to see Lt. Malvin in the door to the infirmary. “We’re about to return, is Cpl. Oland alright?”

 

Mercy nodded. “He’s fine, I was just finishing up. Now remember, bring him in the second either one of you thinks something has changed or in the case of any severe head injury.” Mercy smiled up at Randel. “Even if it’s just a bump on your head, come in if you feel you need to.”

 

Randel nodded, rising up off the exam bed and ducking under the door to follow Alice back to the gate room. The two said nothing as they went to the elevator, passing by several airmen as they went in silence.

 

Alice finally spoke after five minutes. “So. You can’t use your lantern anymore.”

 

Randel shook. “Lieutenant, are you sure you-”

 

“I am,” Alice said. “Gen. Hammond is right, you’re my subordinate and I’ve failed you. You’re living under a bridge, and I didn’t even realize it. I never asked why your lantern made you like you were when it was open, I ignored it and I did God only knows what to your mind.” Alice looked down to the floor, unable to look Randel in the eye. “I lied to myself, I treated you like you were disposable.”

 

Randel shook his head. “I chose to join with Section III ma’am. I should’ve told you sooner. About everything.” Taking a breath, Randel followed her out of the elevator as they reached the level for the gate room. “I’m still going to follow you ma’am. No matter what.”

 

Alice nodded, walking into the gate room to see Oreldo and Martis waiting. “Thank you.”

* * *

 

Master Makarov sat at the bar, turning over in his mind what Lucy relayed from Alice. “Spreading Fairy Tail across Fiore. No guild has ever done such a thing before.”

 

“She mentioned working with the other guilds as well,” Lucy said. “Do you think it’s possible?”

 

“If the Brotherhood is spreading in such a way we’ll have no choice.” Hopping off the bar, Makarov started going for the stairs. “I’ll contact the other guild masters. We’ll need to meet about this as soon as we can. You and Gray focus on resting, it sounds like you both need it.” Lucy nodded, thankful to be back in her usual top and skirt. Leaving the bar she went back to her friends; Gray was wrapping up telling them all what they found.

 

“That’s insane,” Levy whispered. “They were really going to kill all those people like that?”

 

“I know,” Gray whispered, staring down at his food. “I didn’t want to believe it either, but the way it just rolled through the camp like it did? They wanted to kill anyone in their way.”

 

“Oh Gray,” Juvia said, eyes watering at the tale. Lucy knew she wasn’t being hyperbolic or struck by love for her dear Gray. It was heartbreak for what she had to accept was a true story. “I can’t believe you all had to go through that.”

 

“And Erza’s wounded too,” Cana said, barely taking real swigs from her tankard. “Things are getting dangerous, are you three sure you still want to be part of this?”

 

“We’re committed now,” Lucy said, taking a seat next to Levy again. “If we abandoned the MVTF then we’d be nothing but jerks who can’t keep a promise. SG-1 helped us out, and then the whole MVTF when Acnologia attacked. I know it’s dangerous, but they were willing to stand up for us. We can’t ignore when they need help.” The wizards around her all nodded, but Gray noticed several of them didn’t quite have a friendly look in their eyes.

 

The doors to Fairy Tail burst in, and a wizard with a long purple robe and short blue hair strolled in, a roguish grin on his handsome face. “Fairy Tail!”

 

Gray looked up. “Bora? What are you doing here?”

 

“I was in the area, stopped by to see my favorite guild!” Laughing, the former criminal slid into the seat next to a stunned Lucy. “Hey, where’s Natsu and Erza? They off on a quest together?”

 

Lucy’s heart was racing. Back in Hargeon, meeting him for the first time when he pretended to be the Salamander. Getting invited to the party on the boat. Bora’s voice in her memory: “Sell them to a buyer in the West.”

 

“You…” Lucy rose from her seat, eyes downcast as Bora looked up in confusion. “You monster…”

 

Bora blinked, looking around in confusion. “What? Lucy, it’s me remember? What are you-”

 

Lucy’s first hit was a cross on Bora’s left cheek, sending him into the table. Before he could recover her left fist drove into his lips, splitting them open and spreading his blood over her knuckles. The wizards were still trying to process what they were seeing when Lucy grabbed Bora by his cape and threw him to the ground, slamming her foot down on his face.

 

“How many you bastard!” Her voice wasn’t the sweet, kind Lucy the wizards knew. That Lucy wasn’t home right now. This Lucy was new, angry, no she was enraged. “How many women did you sell! How many lives did you destroy! Where are they, huh! Where are they!”

 

Levy jumped up. “Lucy, stop, you’re really hurting him!”

 

“He deserves it,” Lucy shouted. “He’s sentenced everyone he’s ever sold to death! He’s not a man, he’s a monster!” No one knew what to do as they watched Lucy demolish Bora’s face, hauling him up when all he could do was moan and try to beg for mercy through a bloody mouth and broken nose. Roaring, Lucy slammed him down on the table and kept going, driving her fist into his gut. “He sold them as slaves! He was going to sell me as a slave!” Bora shuddered, throwing up on his chest from how hard Lucy was hitting him. Lucy just rolled him over, grabbing his hair and slamming his face into the table and Bora’s own blood and vomit. “Where’s your charms now you bastard! Where’s that pretty smile now!”

 

Elfmann finally came to his senses and jumped across the table, wrapping his hands under Lucy’s arms and pulling her away. “Enough Lucy, that’s not what we do!”

 

Levy and Lisanna ran to Bora; the wizard was barely conscious, blood and bile mixing together in a stomach-churning bouquet that forced everyone else back. Bora did still have his face, but between the broken nose and missing teeth he was never going to be quite so pretty as he had been for a long time.

 

Gray shook as he turned from looking at Bora to Lucy. The sweet, gentle blonde that always looked out for her friends was gone. Someone else was in Elfmann’s grip, a wild, angry, vengeful being that wanted to make Bora pay for crimes that happened long ago. “Lucy, Lucy what’d you do?”

 

Lucy’s breathing started to slow, the blood on her knuckles dripping to the floor in bright red splashes. With anger still flashing her eyes, she ripped herself out of Elfmann’s grasp to everyone’s surprise. “Take him to the police. Tell them he’s been selling women as slaves, tell them to talk to me if they need a witness.” Giving one last glare to everyone, Lucy stormed out of the guild hall for her apartment.

 

Gray blinked, trying to figure out what had just happened. He knew rationally what Lucy was saying, and it wasn’t as if he was denying that Lucy was right about what Bora had done. It was the fury, the brutality of what she’d done to him. Lucy, who was always so worried about everyone else when they were hurt. Who had wanted to give herself up to Phantom Lord rather than put her friends in danger. Who treated her spirits more like family than servants. She had just turned Bora’s face into a red-smeared, vomit-stained, mangled wreck of a visage. Turning back, Gray looked up to the second floor to see Makarov staring down with sad eyes before going into the back.

 

Levy was still quaking, unable to do anything else as she stared at the open doors Lucy just stormed out of. “I don’t understand,” she whispered. “What just happened? Why did Lucy do this?”

 

Gray tried to swallow despite his mouth suddenly going bone dry. “Lucy just realized something about A is A,” he said. “It doesn’t always mean something good.”

 

Like a lightning bolt, Gray was hit by realization. Legs quaking, he sat down as Juvia rushed to his side. “Gray? What’s wrong?” Gray’s eyes were hollow as he answered.

 

“What else is the same?”

* * *

 

The masked figures gathered around the table all glared, waiting for one of their number to finally speak. When no one did, one with long platinum blonde hair finally stood; his mask was set in a placid expression, without emotion or regard for what happened around him. “One of our premier sources of steel was just cut off.”

 

A woman with a sneering mask laughed. “And? We all agreed they were at the end of their usefulness anyway.”

 

“That is not the concern,” the man said, quickly cutting her off. “We managed to intercept the interviews of the security guards there that night. The news is troubling, to say the least.”

 

“A little old to believe in magic, aren’t you?” None of the people at the table could tell which was worse, the sneer of the woman’s mask or on her real face. “Admit it, we need to eliminate Section III. They’re getting closer to interrupting our plans every time they stumble on us.”

 

“Your plans perhaps,” the man pointed out. “We still haven’t received an answer for why you needed their steel in the first place.”

 

“Well their being found out wraps up that particular loose end rather well,” the woman said, waving off the concern. “We already have what we needed, and their records are too disguised through proxies and shells to go anywhere important. By the time any section of the Army’s intelligence gets anything useful, our plan will already be in action.”

 

The man with the placid mask sighed, leaning back in his chair. “If you think this comforts me, you’re mistaken.”

 

The woman’s sneer somehow managed to become even more harsh. “ _What comforts you isn’t my concern anymore. This is my plan, and now you’re going to see just what I can do._ ”

**Author's Note:**

> Yes all, we're still rolling along with A is A! As before, your comments are not only requested, but appreciated!


End file.
